In 1857, Gustave Le Gray used a combination of separate negatives to print his celebrated series of seascapes. He was highly praised for his creativity, but even from then, to think a constructed image can supersede a direct photographic representation of the world has been the thorn in the side of the medium. It is perhaps this premise that lies at the heart of the office.
Responding to Format Festival's theme of Forever//Now, The Office of Revised Futures brings together five artists whose practices explore ideas around constructed photographic images, mainly through analogue collage. The idea of the 'Office' is both an exhibition of existing work, but more importantly also a residence, where the artists can work together to create a new collaborative piece.
The artists in residence are Lewis Bush, Melinda Gibson, Hannah Hughes, Fernando Martin Godoy and Mark Murphy. Their practices cover a wide range of approaches to the constructed image, from appropriation through to performance and digital animation. For four days, the office was in residence at the Smallprint Co. in Derby, during the opening weekend of Format19, in March 2019.
This zine is evidence of the work done at the residence, working with a series of publications by Cafe Royal Books. This 'revised' zine shows the interests of each of the artists, but also poses the idea of photography as a tool to visualise places and objects existing out of time.
-Rodrigo Orrantia, Curator of The Office of Revised Futures, Format Festival Derby