Wait and See

F&D Cartier

4.

Unfixed sheets of photographic paper and other materials, various dimensions and durations.

Switzerland 1998–ongoing

 

Image above: F&D Cartier, Wait and See, Kodak, March 24 – April 30, 2017, unfixed, only Kodak papers, 65 diverse B/B fiber-based expired Kodak papers, 1910–1980, from the artists' collection. Explosion from smallest to biggest usual formats. Kunst Bezirk Stuttgart, exhibition Get the Kodak..., March 24 – April 30, 2017.

 

Wait and See is the title of a series of site-specific installations that address what the artists define as “photo-graphy’s fundamentals: Light & Photosensitive materials. Without camera or dark room or chemicals.” Exemplifying the intersection of the Cartiers’ practices - Françoise, a plastic artist, Daniel, a photographer - the primary concrete medium on display is unfixed sheets of photographic paper (predominantly black and white) dating from anywhere between 1890 and 1980. Outdated and continually exposed to light during their exhibition, these sheets are unstable, ephemeral and unique (visual) objects. In part, a work of “concrete photography” (Jäger 2005), the Cartiers jettison key components of the normative photographic apparatus, principally camera and fixed image, reminding us of photography’s heterogeneous anatomy, inherent temporality and ever-present historical legacy. As Rory Duckhouse notes, “Revealed in the process is the advancement of technology, with newer papers reacting faster than their predecessors. Each paper has its own unique history and is left to develop its own future depending on its contact to light and the space.” (Barnaby Dicker)

 

F&D Cartier is the preferred designation of the collaborative partnership between Françoise and Daniel Cartier, born Switzerland, 1952 and 1952, respectively, where they continue to be based.

 

1. F&D Cartier, from the series Wait and See

CLOUD, 50 different b/w papers from 6 x 9 to 50 x 60 cm, unfixed 

CASCADES, 5 cut strips of *Gevaert paper roll, unfixed

*given by the archivist from the Musée de la Photographie Charleroi in 2016

Gevaert, Belgique

Document Rapid Paper DR 90 (90 gr/m2)

100 m x 35,6 cm/325 ft x 14

Expired 1940’s

Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, Farewell Fotografie, 2017

Wilhelm Hack Museum Ludwigshafen, September 5 – November 5, 2017

 

2. F&D Cartier, from the series Wait and See

Lumière de Pully, February 15 – April 2017, unfixed

Right wall: coincidences – opening date February 15, 2017 and paper expiration date February 15, 1944.

A.M. (Air Ministry) R.A.F. (Royal Air Force), UK. 

War surplus, Bromide, 9 x 7 1/2 in.   

Expired February 15, 1944

Musée d'art de Pully/VD, Suisse 

Evidences du réel. La photographie face à ses lacunes

 

3. F&D Cartier, from the series Wait and See

Bialystok Light, September 8 – October 30, 2017, unfixed

Left wall, top line: German b/w papers, Record-Bayer & Schleussner, 1920

Middle: Polish papers, Foton & Opta, 1950, 1918

Bottom: French & USA papers, Lumière & Kodak, 1920–1950

Right wall, 16 Russian Photo Bumaga papers, ca. 1940–1970

Interphoto Grand Prix / Finalists

 

4. F&D Cartier, from the series Wait and See

March 4–5, 2014, unfixed

Installation, unveiled during opening on March 5, 2014 – Veiled & Unveiled

Blue Sky Gallery Portland, Oregon USA, 2014

Grid central wall:

*Dassonville Co – LTD

East 42nd Street New York

Charcoal Black E

Sketching – Ivory medium contrast

Pencil sketching surface

Type B Medium weight

8 x 10  inches cut in half 

Use before OCT 46

* William E. Dassonville, US photographer (1879–1957)

 

5. F&D Cartier, from series Wait and See

Kaunas Photography gallery, Lithuania, June 26 – July 27, 2014

The never taken images, unfixed

Detail frise, plaque photographique gélatino-bromure d'argent, Russie, 18 x 24 cm, Exp. 1960

Deutsche Börse Prize Nomination 

Video

References

Rory Duckhouse, “F&D Cartier, Wait and See: A Retrospective, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, 22 June – 27 July 2013,” http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/fd-cartier-wait-and-see-a-retrospective.

Gottfried Jäger, “Was ist Konkrete Fotografie?/What is Concrete Photography?,” European Photography, no. 77 (2005), p. 312, http://www.konkrete-fotografie.de/articles%23categoryArticles?id=5.

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