Antony Cairns, British photographer presents in Paris a fascinating exhibition on the great metropolises.
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Obsolete techniques and technologies
The British artist Antony Cairns presents, in the MEP Studio space, a new series of works that is part of his large-scale project entitled CTY. Fascinated by metropolises, Cairns makes photographic and video recordings of major cities including Tokyo, London, Las Vegas and Osaka.
The artist leads a reflection on urban landscapes through the use of so-called obsolete techniques and technologies (PXL2000 camera, computer punch cards, COBOL codes, etc.). This use of processes and media dating back several decades – the equivalent of several centuries in the history of technology – allows Cairns to develop unique images. In his works, buildings, building facades and building complexes seem shrouded in a hazy halo that blurs their perception.
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No human figures
To make these, Antony Cairns does a first recording work, then intervenes directly on the images, as in the case of the hand-colored maps presented in the exhibition. The aesthetics of his work evoke the visual codes of science fiction and its alternative narratives. If the human figure seems totally absent from these megalopolises, it is nevertheless perceptible there via the questioning that Antony Cairns leads on our interactions with our urbanism and the way in which technology shapes our perceptions.
His work was presented at the Tate Modern
Antony Cairns (b. 1980) lives and works in London. His works have notably been presented at the Rencontres d’Arles in 2013, at the George Eastman House in New York (2016), at the Tate Modern (2018) and at the Festival Images Vevey (2018). Cairns has published a selection of artists’ books including LDN (2010), LPT (2012), OCS (2016) as well as CTY (2017) with the publishing house Morel Books.
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