DRAWING LIFE by fred hatt

2009/04/21

Visual Cacophony

Filed under: Photography: Signs and Displays — Tags: , , , — fred @ 00:51
Graffiti Globe, 2008, by Fred Hatt

Graffiti Globe, 2008, photo by Fred Hatt

New York City is like the rainforest, dense with competing and coexisting lifeforms.  When I moved here in the 1980’s, the most striking aspect of the city was the level of anarchy and disorder that prevailed, both in the people and in the physical environment.  It was frightening but also exciting to me.  It said anything goes here, anything is possible.

Since that time, the city has been subjected to a concerted effort to bring it in line and shine it up for the benefit of the tourists and the free-spending wealthy.  But there’s still quite a bit of disorder remaining.  Every city is marked by decay and destructive forces, but the high density cities also show a sort of wild snarl that comes of so many, pressed so tight, trying to make their marks, trying to self-express or sell in an overcrowded market.

Stickers, 2007, photo by Fred Hatt

Stickers, 2007, photo by Fred Hatt

These images dazzle the visual cortex with their mad clutter.  A similar visual energy can be seen in another standard New York sight, the small overstuffed store.

Filaments, 2005, photo by Fred Hatt

Filaments, 2005, photo by Fred Hatt

People make ramshackle barricades, with no concern for aesthetics.  Indeed, perhaps the mess says “Keep away.”

Fence Ribbons, 2004, photo by Fred Hatt

Fence Ribbons, 2004, photo by Fred Hatt

Caution, 2008, photo by Fred Hatt

Caution, 2008, photo by Fred Hatt

Even engineered structures can take on this forbidding rat’s nest quality.  Here’s an underpass beneath elevated subway tracks in Queens.  The combination of the mustard yellow signal light housings with the pale pink ironwork is not a color scheme anyone is likely to have chosen consciously.

Underbridge, 2009, photo by Fred Hatt

Underbridge, 2009, photo by Fred Hatt

Here’s a jumbled pile of trash.

Trash, 2004, photo by Fred Hatt

Trash, 2004, photo by Fred Hatt

And here’s a bike rack where, I think, the wheels have been removed from the bikes to facilitate locking everything up for safekeeping, resulting in a more structured but still overly busy visual mess.

Bike Rack, 2002, photo by Fred Hatt

Bike Rack, 2002, photo by Fred Hatt

This is an electronics store display pushing Playstations and Palm Pilots for Christmas.

Little Screens, 2005, photo by Fred Hatt

Little Screens, 2005, photo by Fred Hatt

Even clothing displays can create optical turmoil.

Gold Pants, 2008. photo by Fred Hatt

Gold Pants, 2008. photo by Fred Hatt

A kind of purely visual pandemonium can result from the conjunction of overly busy store window displays with reflections in the glass.  Maybe people don’t notice this effect because they visually separate things that are seen on different depth planes, but the camera compresses them into two dimensions.

Bike Shop, 2008, photo by Fred Hatt

Bike Shop, 2008, photo by Fred Hatt

Doll Window, 2004, photo by Fred Hatt

Doll Window, 2004, photo by Fred Hatt

Toy Shop, 2008, photo by Fred Hatt

Toy Shop, 2008, photo by Fred Hatt

This kind of visual excess has an energizing effect on me, like wild music that’s dissonant yet exuberant.

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