Gytis Skudžinskas’ exhibition “12 Truths of Photography” took place at Vilnius Academy of Arts, “Titanikas” gallery (Maironio g. 3, Vilnius) during the period of 27 Jan — 14 Feb 2015. The exhibition presented twelve series of artworks dealing with various models and traditions of perception in order to rethink the status of originary image sources in photography.
According to a culture critic Jurij Dobriakov “Skudžinskas’ creative methodics and philosophy can be identified as a certain metaphysics of photography or even radiology of photography. He has no interest in the image as such; what is central in his work is the innards of the image, the underlying principles of its functioning, or its placement in a wider contextual system. Skudžinskas often abandons any physical artefacts of photography entirely by substituting them with the signs of a different kind—for example, texts. In other words, instead of capturing recognisable fragments of reality, his art focuses on the relational network between the images, their meanings and contexts, their margins and back sides, spaces both physical and imaginary, automatisms of perception, and cliches.
The characteristic specificity of Skudžinskas’ art allows us to classify him not as a photographer, but rather as a conceptual researcher. Obviously, his methodical and consistent, at times nearly scientific approach will not please everyone, but it will definitely resonate with those viewers who are already reaching out beyond the stage of photographic fetishism—those who are able to enjoy the autopsy of the medium as much as they are enjoying an impressive photographic shot.
We should also note that Skudžinskas’ creative research is not as formal and serious as it might seem: one can always sense a dose of an almost punk-ish humour. In a way, each of his artworks is a certain anecdote on photography, its history, canons, and its current state, and everyone familiar with the context will always ‘get the joke.’ We will not find any polysemic mystifications nor conceptualist detective stories here—the meanings are always clear, simple, and, just like in the anecdote, right to the point. This is exactly how artist choses to demonstrate that the significance of photography can be stated without any unconditional worshiping, and that the conceptual dissection of the medium can be an effective way to approach its essence.
Specific style of reflecting on photography can easily be recognised in every single artwork or series of artworks, but in order to get fully acquainted with Skudžinskas’ world of photographic margins and horizons it is always best to approach it in its retrospective entirety which ranges from the ‘literal’ approach (a/w series Daily Setup; Untitled (Susan Sontag. On Photography); Banners. Artist Statement; etc.) to a more metaphorical one (Album; Retouch).”
Gytis Skudžinskas (b. 1975) is an artist, graphic designer, curator, exhibiting his artworks since 1999. Works in the fields of photography, installation, and sound art.
12 Truths of Photography. Exhibition view.
12 Truths of Photography. Exhibition view.
Info-Colours, 2009 The TV news programs captured in their entirety with a pinhole camera. Prints, artist book.
Backgrounds, 2011 (ongoing) Photo-studios of various photographers. Silver prints.
Retouch, 2014 Photographic paper used as a mouse pad; the exposures were made with a mouse led light during the process of digital retouch. Silver prints.
12 Truths of Photography. Exhibition view.
12 Truths of Photography. Exhibition view.
Acquired Trajectories, 2005 Series of antique slides acquired in a second-hand shop, projected over the sheets of paper and traced with a pen during a performance in 2005.
Flags, 2011 Pictures of all national flags turned into indexical colour samples and arranged into a decontextualised colour palette.
Banners. Artist Statement, 2014 (ongoing) Truisms on photography gathered from social networks, publications, personal discussions are transferred onto the banners. Documentation (The Perfect Shot), 2013 Sounds of the camera shutters arranged into a rhythmic sequence. Sound installation.
Album, 2013-2014 The reverses of antique photos arranged in 18 boxes. Only pen markings on the flip side are visible. Silver prints, wooden boxes.
Album, 2013-2014 The reverses of antique photos arranged in 18 boxes. Only pen markings on the flip side are visible. Silver prints, wooden boxes.
(Susan Sontag. On Photography), 2011 Retouched pages from Susan Sontag’s On Photography (first ed., Random House Publishing Group, 1978).
