Steven Pippin
Born
Steven John Pippin

1960 (age 63–64)
Redhill, Surrey, England
NationalityBritish
Known forSculpture
MovementYoung British Artists
Websitewww.mrpippin.co.uk

Steven Pippin (born 1960 at Redhill, Surrey) is an English photographer and installation artist. Pippin works with converted or improvised photographic equipment and kinetic sculptures which are often based on physical models and are metaphors for social mechanisms.[1]

Early life and education

Pippin's work shows a strong interest in the mechanical, which he has said stems from an early childhood memory of seeing his father surrounded by the wires and tubes of a television set he was repairing.[2]

He studied in Mechanical Engineering at Charles Keen College, Leicester; Foundation Art & Design at Loughborough College, Leicestershire; Fine Art Sculpture at Brighton Polytechnic and Fine Art Sculpture at Chelsea School of Art, London[1][3]

During his student days he was selected for the DAAD scholarship (German Academic Exchange Service)[4]

From the beginning of his career, his works focused on creating atmospheric photographs by converting every day object into provisional pin hole cameras. Later his photography became closer to science after making peace with this type of disciplines.

I hated it because my father and grandfather were engineers... I've gone back to technology now, but for a long time I didn't touch it; I blocked it. I tried making gears out of cardboard when I already had the knowledge to machine the parts! [5]

Artistic career

Pippin's early work was based on converting furniture and everyday objects into makeshift pinhole cameras which he then used to take sympathetic photographs. Sympathetic photography, as seen through photographer Allan Sekula (1951-2013) using photography not only for an aesthetic purpose but as a tool to show injustices and bodily suffering.[6]

His work often involves a significant amount of planning to overcome the practical problems posed by the chosen object. Pippin typically has to plan and construct a significant amount of supporting equipment in order to achieve his pictures. Frequently the resulting photographs are distorted or otherwise compromised by the manner of their construction, but the imperfections are seen as an important characteristic of the image, giving a link back to the object which was used as a camera. The photographs are always shown alongside an image of the converted object, and for later works, much of the actual equipment used in the conversion along with supporting documentation.[7]

Artistic Work

Point Blank (2010)

Within the exhibition called A Non Event (Horizon) that took place from June 16, 2011 to October 2, 2011 at the CEAAC (Centre européen d'actions artistiques contemporaines) there is one of Steven Pippin's best-known works: Point Blank.

Throughout this series, the artist exhibits small and medium-sized analog cameras pierced by bullets along with some of the photos they took while the projectile was heading towards them, making his last photos capture the reason for its destruction. This project contains 20 images to date. It began in Wisconsin, USA and was continued in London later.

It is precisely the fact of obtaining perforated cameras and the symbology that accompanies them that makes this series such an interesting work. As a result, photographs are obtained with distorted and fractured images with organic ramifications that are reminiscent of the chemical process that accompanies analog photographs. In some of the images obtained we can see the bullet out of focus due to its speed.[8]

Analogital (2008)

During the eighties, a transition occurred in the world of photography that brought with it a lot of controversy, dividing photographers between those who abandoned analog to switch to digital format and those who decided to stay with the traditional technique.

In this work, Steven Pippin seeks to reflect this change through a method that consists of simultaneously taking the same photograph with a digital and an analog camera. The image resulting from the synchronized shot is exposed divided in two, either by natural borders (typical of the landscape or element photographed) or artificial ones, separating the two formats.

The analog side is done using a C print, printed by hand; and the digital side is an inkjet print.[8][9]

Non (2007)

This work is one of the most philosophical, in it we can see a CANON camera from which the artist has decided to delete the first two initials, a fact that is referenced in the title of the project itself. The lens of this camera is surrounded by a system of tubes and mirrors that rotate on the camera to focus on itself. This work lacks functionality and is based on self-reflection and absurdity.[8][10]

Ω = 1 (2003 - 2014)

Our universe is theoretically, according to astrophysical theories, in a constant state of equilibrium between collapse through implosion and total explosion. Normally, physicists use a pencil as a metaphor to show this very delicate state of balance of forces, maintaining its balance supported only by its tip. For approximately 10 years Steven Pippin dedicated himself to devising a sculpture that could represent this metaphor.

The sculpture is based mainly on two lights that project the shadows of a 2B pencil on a metal plate where it is held. These shadows are monitored by sensors that, upon detecting the slightest change, modify the position of the plate where the pencil rests with a margin of 20 milliseconds and almost imperceptibly to avoid losing balance. Thus, the pencil remains upright without the help of anything other than its tip.[5][11]

This work seems to stop time while keeping the viewer in a constant state of expectation and teaching us the fragility of balance.[12]

Laundromat-Locomotion (1997)

The first images in this series were made in London in 1991. Later, in 1997, Pippin expanded his idea and moved it to a laundry room in New Jersey, where he placed photographic paper on each of the backgrounds of 12 washing machines that were attached to ropes of cotton. That ropes were activated in his path to capture him walking. As we can guess from the name, this work is a tribute to Animal Locomotion (1887) by Eadweard Muybridge. In this work, Muybridge tried to confirm or deny the following hypothesis: There is a moment in a horse's trot where none of its legs are in contact with the ground. To test this bet, Muybridge had a horse run in front of 12 cameras that were activated by ropes in its path, capturing snapshots of the movement.

Thanks to this, he not only managed to demonstrate that the hypothesis was indeed true, but also laid the foundations of cinema, motion photography, and if that were not enough, he helped the world in general to better understand the movement of the horse. Later he would do more projects capturing dances and everyday movements of human beings.

Pippin's tribute was even closer to the original images obtained by Muybridge because the washing machines were spinning at 500 rpm.

(It gave the images) a certain degree of authenticity, making them look like a Muybridge original from a hundred years ago. The scratches on the surface of the negative become a substitute for time, an artificial aging process that gives the images an accidental air of authenticity.[13]

Work Philosophy

Pippin explained the philosophy behind his work The Window on the World to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

"In the purely traditional sense Photography (whose predecessor painting) allows for a privileged window onto the world, offering the viewer, via the two dimensional picture plane, an uninhibited scene of virtually anything from landscapes and cityscapes down to minute details and microscopic organisms in an attempt to take the minds eye on a journey, either away from themselves and their particular situation or perhaps deeper into self reflection on their current position (in front of the picture). This is the romantic notion of all images, to takeover or extract the mind of the viewer by slowly seducing them with an ever more enticing view into a world that they may never otherwise see or experience. However by offering the limited view of a closed window and brick wall, a relative visual cul-de-sac and an extremely uninteresting viewpoint, the idea of removing the viewer from reality is usurped and undermined by the concept imbedded in the particular manufacture of the image. This offers the mind the possibility of an endless, infinite and never ending view. An attempt to take the mind of the viewer away from the idea of a single fixed frame format point of view into a picture that has no definitive surface. Also the lack of a dramatic or absorbing image (like a waterfall or moonscape) forces the contemplation of the mind inwards on itself forcing a different approach and a different viewpoint via which it might be possible to re consider the particular open ended aspect that this particular photograph. Essentially the actual image becomes superficial, and is purely a conduit for accessing another plane of thought."

Exhibition

By himself[4]

Year Name Museum or Galery City
2017 Aberration optique Centro Pompidou Paris
2013 Ω=1 Dilston Grove London
2013 Vernal Equinox Helga Maria Klosterfelde Berlin
2012 Regress/Progress CSW Centrum Sztuki Wspolczesnej Poland
2011 End of Photography Gallery SIDE 2 Tokyo
2011 A Non Event/Horizon Centre Europeen d’Actions Artistiques Contemporaines Strasbourg
2008 ANALOGITAL Helga Maria Klosterfelde Berlin
2007 Steven Pippin Domaine de Kerguéhennec Centre d’art contemporain Bignan
2006 Cosmological Convolution, Omega = 1 Galleria Arte e Ricambi Verona
2005 UFO Helga Maria Klosterfelde Berlin
2005 GeoFlatscreen Prototype Gavin Brown’s enterprise New York City
2001 Journey to the edge of the artworld Gavin Brown’s enterprise New York City
2001 Toilet paper Stealing Machine Helga Maria Klosterfelde Berlin
1999 New Constellation & Geocentric Royal Observatory Greenwich
1999 fax 69 Gallery SIDE 2 Tokyo
1999 Laundromat – Locomotion Regen Projects Los Angeles
1999 Global Warming Asprey Jacques London
1999 fax 69 Helga Maria Klosterfelde Berlin
1999 Laundromat – Locomotion MoMA P.S. 1 New York City
1999 Laundromat – Locomotion ICA Philadelphia
1998 Geocentric t.v. Carl Zeiss Planetarium Jena
1998 Global Warming DAAD Galerie Berlin
1998 Laundromat – Locomotion SFMoMA San Francisco
1998 Lavatory – Locomotion Helga Maria Klosterfelde Hamburg

In collaboration with other artists[4]

Year Name Museum or Galery City
2012 Derrière le Rideau-L’esthètique Photomation Photo Elysee Lausanne
2011 This is my reference/questo è il mio riferimento ArteFiera Bologna
2009 Blickmaschinen oder wie Bilder entstehen Kunsthalle Budapest
2009 Sci-Art Galleria Enrico Astuni Bologna
2009 How To Work Better Intershop Tower Jena
2008 Art Machines / Machine Art Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
2007 What You See Is What You Gues Frac Champagne-Ardenne Reims
2004 Untitled (Vision Existence Resistance) Franco Soffiantino arte contemporanea Turin
2003 RÎcentes acquisitions pour la collection du Frac Bretagne Domaine de KerguÎhennec Bignan
2003 Helga Maria Klosterfelde Editionen (1990 – 2003), Helga Maria Klosterfelde Berlin
2002 Self Evident Tate Gallery London
2002 Tempo Museum of Modern Art New York City
2001 The Fantastic Recurrence of Certain Situations Sala de Exposiciones del Canal de Isabel II Madrid
2000 HausSchau Haus der Kunst Munich
2000 Useless Science Museum of Modern Art New York City
2000 Projects Gallery SIDE 2 Tokyo
1999 The 1999 Turner Prize Exhibition Tate Britain London
1999 Nur Wasser läßt sich leichter schneiden Hedrichsmühle Hamburg
1999 Spiral TV Spiral/Wacoal Art Center Tokyo
1999 Silly Victorians The Minories Colchester

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 "The British photographer and installation artist Steven Pippin — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research". www.pik-potsdam.de. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "Steven Pippin". ARTPIL. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "Steven Pippin". Galerie Pfab. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Steven Pippin". Galerie Pfab. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 "The Machines of Steven Pippin, The Edge, University of Bath review - technology as poetry". theartsdesk.com. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Soler, Ramon Casalé (26 September 2017). "Allan Sekula: la realidad de la fotografía »". Las nueve musas (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "AstroCloud | Φrbit° sφaceφlace :: art in the age øf Φrbitizatiøn". Mobile.orbit.zkm.de. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 "A Non Event (Horizon)". CEAAC | Centre Européen d'Actions Artistiques Contemporaines (in French). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  9. ↑ alan (22 August 2018). "Steven Pippin". Klosterfelde Edition. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Kucharek, Jan-Carlos (13 August 2020). "From bath-as-camera to camera-as-thought-experiment". www.ribaj.com. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "The Machines of Steven Pippin: Playful inventions that merge art, science and technology". Creative Boom. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Steven Pippin | Ω = 1, 2003". Art Basel. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Tate. "'Laundromat-Locomotion (Walking in Suit)', Steven Pippin, 1997". Tate. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
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