Gabriel Jones
NøMa: What was the inspiration behind this image?
GJ: This image of a parachute carrying falling space rocket cockpit is part of a series i created in 2008. It's a ficticious series of anti-glorious landscapes filled with old remains of what seems to be nuclear missiles and other weapons that failed in exploding and simply crashed on the ground.
By way of manipulated photographs and details of authentic footage, i photographed and created a fictitious visual “scenario” using absurdity to criticize the tragic absurdity of wars. I describe an imaginary and elusive country, revealing a surreal perspective of our world by playing with two physically similar objects: the nuclear missile, an icon of mass destruction, and the space rocket, an icon of scientific research and progress. The division creates ambiguity. At first glance the viewer has the impression of witnessing a desolate war ara but then realises that these objects are in fact space rockets.
In my landscapes, the rockets (or parts of them) and at times satellites, rest at indistinct locations, abandoned due to their malfunction and reference playfully a whole register of human emotions between angst and curiosity. I add to the mystique by combining these created images with reframed, silk screened, real life video stills from archives, making the viewer believe that this is a documentary.
Navigating between photography and silk screened video stills, my work hovers between the imaginary and the hyper real, leaving an arsenal of impressions that transcend time and ultimately loose their threatening effect.
In brief, can you take us quickly through the process you used to achieve the image?
This image is a reframed, silk screened, real life video still.
What it was like to work on the Arcade Fire project?
Working with Arcade Fire as well as the art director Vincent Morisset and designer Caroline Robert, was a great experience. I went on a road trip in Texas, to photograph a series of suburban landscapes for them, followed by a studio shoot in Montreal where the selected suburb images were then projected onto a large screen. The car and setup. This series of images explores the North American suburban experience and the memories that one can have from growing up in this type of environment. The images were also used for a postcard that Arcade Fire sent out to magazines to inform them about upcoming shows and news about the album release. Their album The Suburbs won Album of the year at the Grammy, Brit and Juno Awards.)
Where are you located?
I am based in New York and Paris. These two cities nourish me in two complimentary ways.
How would you describe your style in five words or less?
Curious
What are you working on at the moment?
I am currently curating a group exhibition called the Pseudonym Project / Paris. A group show gathering new and different works by emerging and internationally established artists, all using pseudonyms. The real names will then be disclosed at the exhibition's closing reception. The Pseudonym Project first happened in New York in 2010. The Paris version will be happening in 2012.
I am also preparing an exhibition of the Arcade Fire photographs. They will be showned at Paris Photo and at Galerie Bertrand Grimont, Paris. I am currently looking for a gallery to host the show in the USA.
http://www.gabrieljones.net/index.php
http://pseudonymproject.com
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