Georges Rousse

© Georges Rousse

I was introduced to the work of French artist Georges Rousse (b. 1947) through Charlotte Cotton's book, the photograph as contemporary art.  Rousse photographs abandoned architectural spaces after he has altered them with paint, plaster and sometimes wood, usually creating geometric shapes.  (I was unable to find a title or year for the above photo).

I like his process.  I often photograph the dilapidated parts of my house before I fix them. His work contains, for me, the before and after, the ruined and the possible.

The Writing's on the Wall

© 2011 Sarah Barr

Last week was a good week.  I met with my artist mentor John Woodin for a couple of hours.    We discussed the art world, growing up Catholic, having a connection to what you photograph, and analog versus digital among other things.

I also got approval to enter the church again.  I'll sign a waiver and then head to the church with a chaperone.  They'll have finished abating and I wonder what changes might have occurred to the interior because of it.

I have been looking into the "taking leave" ceremony or ritual that is performed when a church closes.  CatholicWeb.com has a section where you can Ask-A-Franciscan a question.  Fr. Jim responded, "That ceremony would be done by the Bishop and the diocese would have the ritual for that.  I don't have the ritual for that specific situation".

New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia has a section on how an altar loses its consecration:

An altar loses its consecration: (1) when the table of the altar is broken into two or more large pieces; (2) when at the corner of the table that portion which the consecrator anointed with holy oil is broken off; (3) when several large stones of the support of the table are removed; (4) when one of the columns which support the table at the corners is removed; (5) if for any reason whatever the table is removed from the support, or only raised from it — e.g., to renew the cement; (6) by the removal of the relics, or by the fracture or removal, by chance or design, of the small cover, or slab, placed over the cavity containing the relics. (See also HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN ALTAR.).

This church's thirty-seven foot high Curare marble altar was removed (above photo) and will be reassembled and installed in a new church.  Below is the design of the new church with the altar as its main focus.

John Woodin

Dauphine Street 1 © John Woodin

John Woodin has agreed to be my Artist Mentor this semester. Yeah! John lives in West Philadelphia but is a native of New Orleans. The above images are from New Orleans before and after Katrina.

From John's artist statement:
The photographs of New Orleans are part of an ongoing series of urban landscapes that explore the relationship between man and nature. A native of the city, I started photographing its’ architecture in August 2004. I concentrated my efforts in lower and lower-middle income neighborhoods where the homes most accurately reflected the reality of life in New Orleans. There I documented a unique architecture slowly being demolished by poverty, neglect and weather. I returned to the city for the first time after Katrina in early October 2005, the day after the search for bodies was called off. I re-photographed many of the same locations creating a series of before and after pictures as well as hundreds of new images. I continue to revisit the sites I've photographed previously in order to measure the changes that occur.

More about John: http://www.inliquid.com/artist/woodin_john/woodin.php