As the new artist in residence at The Open Data Institute, award-winning photographic artist Natasha Caruana’s solo show ‘Love is an Act’ showcases Caruana’s explorations into narratives of love, fantasy and betrayal, including ‘At First Sight’ (Coup De Foudre) which premiered in the UK following its global launch at Les Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, France, during July 2015. We worked with Natasha to produce Bespoke Frames, Direct to Media UV prints on concrete and Aluminium Mounts for the exhibition, which marked the beginning of Caruana’s residency at The ODI, the second artist in residence to join the ODI’s Data as Culture art programme during the second part of its ‘Data Anthropologies’ theme.
Alongside ‘At First Sight’, Caruana showcases a range of her work and the following works are on display at the ODI’s headquarters in Shoreditch:
Married Man’ (2008 – 2009) comprising of 80 self-conducted dates with married men, secretly documented in a series of identity-concealed photographs.
The Clandestine Purse‘ (2008 – 2009) – a large scale tableau photograph of the purse Natasha brought to every date during her Married Man’ research. The purse concealed a sound recorder documenting each date and photograph presents the purse as an anecdotal monument encapsulating secret stories of married men.
Fairytale for Sale’ (2011 – 2013) a series of defaced real wedding photos showing newlyweds performing ceremony traditions and iconic poses. Sourced online from redundant wedding dresses under resale by their owners, the obscured portraits question the transactional value of weddings as a performance and public displays of marriage.
Love Bomb’ (2012 – 2014) – a photographic series of love’ spells and potions, including an orange and lemon perforated with cloves and 9 carnations in a clear glass vase. The spells and potions’ are juxtaposed with photographs of homemade bombs, and accompanying recipes. The project derives from Natasha’s own struggle to overcome lost love with a former partner and challenges the media-created expectation of living to achieve love.
At First Sight’ (2014 – 2015) – photographic reenactments of falling in love at first sight, accompanied with circulation system diagrams and photographs of locations used for psychological love experiments. The piece is inspired by Natasha’s own love at first sight experience when meeting her recently wed husband in 2014.
‘Love is an Act’ at The Open Data Institute: Extended until Mar 2016.
Jul 2015 – March 2016.
The Open Data Institute,
65 Clifton Street,
London
EC2A 4JE
Visitors must contact The ODI ahead of visiting on 020 3598 9395, or dac@theodi.org.
Data Anthropologies is curated by Hannah Redler, Associate Curator in Residence, with Julie Freeman, Artist Associate and Gavin Starks, CEO.