is on of a series of my recent works in different mediums exploring the boundaries and possibilities of art and technology. These have included a poetry video and a video installation in development.
Beyond the boundaries and strengths of newer media, Zeus. . . also explores the issue of viewer. In the process of stepping through the photo-progression, you have to actively touch the photos vicariously, by clicking. You, the viewer, had to act to make the work happen. It is not the photo in of itself that is the art, but the motion of virtually walking up on the missile.
And with the rise of newer artistic medias, the question of the viewer can finally be addressed at the degree it deserves.
Another facet of this work, is the play of words in the title. Most people recognize Zeus as one of the many Greek gods. A smaller percentage might remember him as ruling the other gods to a lesser or greater degree. What may not be remembered is that Zeus' father was the Titan called Atlas. Zeus killed his father, the Titan called Atlas. It happens (and this is a thought that struck me after shooting that series of photos) that the missile in the photo-progression is an American Atlas-Titan ICBM, a missile brought on-line during, I believe, the late '50s, in the midst of the cold war. The missile then becomes a type of America during the cold war, with McCarthism, with the Communist threat, with American Imperialism, and so on.
You may still be wondering about the play on words I mentioned. As one walks up on the missile vicariously, one sees the paint peeling from the missile, and ultimately the plaque worn smooth by the years. It has been left behind, and in the world of military-industrial politics, the forgotten are dead, killed off. Interestingly enough, many people claim that the west "won" the coldware because of immense military might and the Reagan build-up. It could be said that we benefited from that military build-up. The powerful phallic Atlas takes on the role of a father giving gifts to his children. And with those gifts &emdash;the fall of the Soviet Union&emdash;we have forgotten that Father and killed him.
We have become Zeus, killing Atlas, our Father in that sense. Some might argue that the process of "walking" into the photos, is a remembering. That unremembering becomes a way to revive the dead. Perhaps. My sense is that remembering is only remembering. It is standing at the graveside. It will not bring back the '50s, the arms race, Wally and Beaver, McCarthy and our "faded industrial glory."
This leaves one with the viewer. Remembering, the graveside, mourning never affects the dead. They are dead. The question is what happens to the morner, the viewer. The viewer has a range of options from blocking out the memory to a foolish crusade to resurrect the past to resolving the past and moving on. The art will not dictate that reaction, only set up the possibility. And unfortunately, this piece is a limited example, but a spark.
Zeus. . . like the other photographs seen here, has not been digitally manipulated. Each of these photographs were shot as you see them. The only changes are that all photos were scanned to Kodak Photo CD by a commercial photolab. Most have been cropped and compressed to save space on my homepage. And Zeus. . . involves zooming in on the image
All Works Copyright 1995 Tim Wood. All rights reserved.
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