1. When looking at your projects, we understand how photography as video, are useful tools for a better understanding of geographic transformations. There is a scientific pragmatism. We get the impression that we should not necessarily be photographers to use photography. The goal is more important than the medium?
«I certainly agree with that. As an artist, I always question my art-making process. One of the most important questions for me is: “Am I using the right medium to convey my ideas?” My firm belief is that form should function in balance with the concept. Concept without a proper form is an incomplete idea, an unfinished thought. In turn, an aesthetic form without a concept can be visually pleasing, however empty and tiresome.
I am attracted to photography on an intellectual level, precisely because of it’s inherent democratic form. Anyone can take a good photograph. Perhaps not great, but good never the less. And - nowadays, everyone makes images, daily. I am intrigued by how photography becomes art, based on photographer’s intention. This form, or medium, in a way, is readily available through the use of a quality camera - so, for an artist to develop it into art it requires a strong concept, or a specific goal.
I am often attracted to photography that is used as an art medium by artists from other fields. They are usually free from the rules of the photographic medium, yet they apply their own sense of aesthetic form to their images. Often, the results are very intriguing. I also believe that artists should not live in their own creative bubble. I look to other disciplines for inspiration- Geography, Sociology, Biology, Environmental sciences, to name a few. In this way, my art remains relevant and appreciated by wider audiences.»
2. In 2010 you curated the exhibition Hyperreal World which brings together a number of photographers (Dana Fritz, Justin James Reed to name a few) who had examined the relationship between human activity and the environment. One way to broaden the dialogue and debate on the changes induced by our species on the landscape and habitats. What have you learned from this experience?
«Curating the Hyperreal World was one of the most enjoyable experiences in my career. This was my first true curatorial experience. Over a couple of years, I met a great number of photographers who shared similar ideas about the world that surrounds us.
I learned a lot through this process. I started, in a fairly naïve way, with an idea of building an exhibition I would enjoy seeing. At the same time, I was working on my photographic project in foreclosed real estate properties in Florida’s subdivisions. So, I simply started looking for artwork by other artists that would inform my own work. At first, I was calling this project The Environment of Politics of Environment, but the closer I got to the date of the exhibition, certain artist’s works began to dominate my ideas, and I switched my direction, based on a couple of artists I knew I really wanted in the exhibition. I learned to keep an open mind and let the work I found and admired shape the exhibition. I will definitely use this approach in future exhibitions. Starting with a fairly open idea and allowing the work to shape the theme. I really enjoyed the gradual process of exhibition building.»
3. Your Speculation World project continues the previous theme, targeting the concept of limit. After many years the development in Florida has had an interruption, as if it had entered a state of limbo, well described by your aerial photos. Yet we perceive a degree of uncertainty in all this: who will win? How long will this picture last without the bulldozers? Nature and man are necessarily in conflict?
«This series came out of the larger collaborative project with John Raulerson, sculptor, and my colleague from Florida State University. In 2007 we set out to record the loss of family-owned farms in Florida. And pretty soon we discovered many facets of this story- I was attracted to it because of the idea of land-loss, something I already investigated in Louisiana, and my native Yugoslavia. The story was that farmers were selling the land to real estate developers, because at that time about 1,000 people moved to Florida every day. Suddenly, the economic downturn forced a lot of foreclosures in central Florida, so we started photographing in these abandoned subdivisions, and from the air, to illustrate what was originally agricultural land, now rendered useless.
This became a story of how politics, and often greed, shapes the landscape we inhabit. The economy is slowly getting better, but there are places in Florida and other states that will not recover that easily. The homes were built speculatively, based on the projections that the American upper middle class wants to move to Florida to retire. Now, these modern ghost towns litter the landscape instead of being used for food production, or as wildlife habitats. With this project I wanted to illustrate the unsustainable direction of the progress our lifestyle dictates.»
4. Tell us about your experience as a teacher of photography. The relationship with the students and the Internet. The contemporary photographic scenario is rapidly changing, and expanding due to the digital technology, the 3D and georeferencing. How do you interpret all this from your personal observation?
«I feel really lucky to have a chance to teach photography as fine art in today’s arena, precisely because of the constant change in the medium. Technology is something that is inherent in photography, and it shaped the history of our medium. And so it continues today. As a teacher I have ability, to a degree, through my students, to influence the direction this medium will take in the future. This daily problem solving makes my job and my career really exciting and fulfilling.
Art education drastically changed in the past 10 years, through generational shift of instructors, and application of new technologies in the classroom. With Internet, my students and I have a real-time resource and a connection to the world outside our little North Carolina town. During every class we exchange new finds and discoveries that will further develop our art projects and help develop our careers.
Good example is my Professional Practices course during which our senior undergraduate students prepare for their thesis exhibition, and at the same time receive instruction on professional development. Large component of this course is building a list of websites with valuable professional resources, ranging from exhibition opportunities and grants to legal services for artists. All of the students contribute to this list, and at the end of the semester, they have a wealth of information at their fingertips.
In addition to the professional development I push my students to explore the digital toolset in their art making, while maintaining the idea that, like any other form, it should be balanced with the concept.»
Text by Steve Bisson
© All copyright remains with photographer Daniel Kariko