EDITOR ’ S LETTER by Andrea Blanch
If sharks aren ’ t in constant motion , they die . Like a shark , at Musée , we always like to move forward . It ’ s this movement that separates life and death . Treading water is not making any progress , it ’ s standing still . And while self-reflection is good , for me , looking back is too retrograde . We like discovering the new and “ NEXT !” That ’ s our personal mantra . This issue ’ s cover of Philippe Halsman ’ s portrait of Harold Lloyd ’ s leap exudes the idea of life and shows engagement . Using motion in his iconic images of Salvadore Dali , Marilyn Monroe , and others , Halsman rids these people of their public personas and captures them without inhibitions . A simple idea , this is what makes his Jump series extraordinary . The 11 artists featured in this issue each look at motion from their own unique perspectives . Motion can be defined as a noun , a verb , or as undefined as the concept of time itself . A true masterpiece , Christian Marclay ’ s The Clock is a spectacular 24-hour-long installation that shows the passage of time . Hundreds of characters through dozens of movies over a century of filmmaking blend together into an entity that intertwines reel-time with real time , moving you seamlessly through the actual hours of the day . At no point does time stand still . But here ’ s where the dichotomy lies : can time ever stand still ? In a stroke of genius , Walead Beshty answers this question in his FedEx series . He manages to not only freeze literal movement , but also creates a dynamic piece of art that is constantly changing , morphing , and merging the traces of its journey . The goal being , it conceptually voids the art of ownership . “ Hooray !” I say . It ’ s not to say that the more literal definitions of motion are any less captivating . At a time when cigarettes were dangling out of everybody ’ s mouths , Leo Burnett launched an ad campaign to re-brand Marlboro . They were not only advertising cigarettes , they were also advertising a lifestyle . Clasen ’ s photographs captured the romanticism of the wild , wild West , and created a romantic ideal for women that hasn ' t abated with time . His captivating images were as dramatic as the conditions in which he took them . He introduced photographing horses using back light and running downhill , all the while battling the elements and even rattlesnakes to create the Marlboro Man experience . The motion and emotion of Clasen ’ s Marlboro photographs are in stark contrast with the graceful fluidity radiating out of Louis Stettner ’ s photographs of the Alpilles trees . A quintessential city-dweller , Stettner saw a time of war and a time of peace . He captured nature and its wonders in a way that froze decades of winds blowing the Alpilles trees into morphed , twisted forms , true to how the earth intended them to be . He froze an entire ecosystem in a single frame . But what makes Stettner ’ s work even more relevant to the times is the fact that it brings a breath of relief from the violence we see in the world around us . Even though the trees in his frames bend with the violence of the wind , he captures what looks like utopia in their still , tranquil demeanor . Karine Laval ’ s images of poolscapes frame the pool as a stage and emphasize the fluidity in the actions of her subjects . Using a Rolleiflex and film , Laval creates a theatrical rendition of public pools with saturated , vibrant colors . So captivating that you can ’ t look away ; they make you want to keep looking deeper . Taken over a decade , the images walk the fine line between photography and paintings in the way the tone , light and depth add drama to the stage she frames . In this issue , we talk about the grand , the unusual , and the usual , but we also take a minute to think about the abstract . Ryan Trecartin ’ s Animation Companion doesn ’ t translate into motion in concept , but the motion is omnipresent throughout the visual series . The fluidity of the mediums , the transitions in the opacity , and the near-absurdity of the subjects make each image a transformation in itself . We traversed through the unique , the classic and the abstract in our search for motion , but the thing that rang true for all of our photographs was beauty . Spotlight artist Martin Klimas fascinates with his ability to pause time in the moment of impact , sculptures still discernible but already in the process of entering a new state . Rachael Talibart ’ s desaturated images of waves crashing against rocks are reminiscent of John Keats ’ beautiful grandeur of doom . And emerging artist Carli Davidson ’ s dog photos add to the issue bringing humor and levity with them . All of our 17 emerging and 7 spotlight photographers capture movement in colors , contrasting monochromes , making the ordinary look extraordinary . Technology has had a tremendous impact on motion photography itself : when it was used , how it was used , and how it ' s being used today . We explore the roots of motion photography with a section dedicated to its history , featuring pioneers like Harold Edgerton , Eadweard Muybridge , Henri Cartier-Bresson , etcetera . Motion is not only tangible movement but also signifies intangible phenomena like the passing of time . Now , I want to take a sleeping pill , go to bed ... and not move .
Henri Cartier-Bresson , Place de l ' Europe Gare Saint Lazare . Paris , France . 1932 . Courtesy Magnum Photos .
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