mars poetica

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat "Untitled #99" by Ann Mandelbaum is currently on display at the Center for Creative Photography.

catalyst

Exploring the themes of perspective and reality, the Center for Creative Photography's current show is a double exhibition of Imag(in)ing Mars and Ann Mandelbaum: Proximities. While the two different subjects appear completely unrelated from the outset, the images provide an intriguing analysis of worlds both familiar and strange.

Imag(in)ing Mars coincides with the launch of the Mars Polar Lander on January 3. Most of the works in the show center around the digital photographs taken by the Mars Pathfinder in 1997. They do not really present anything amazingly new: this is more of a collection of pictures that flooded the media back in 1997. In various perspectives you see the reddish desert landscapes, decorated with rocks and hills.

The most powerful effect of these photos is the closeness with which they allow the audience to see Mars. From the camera's intimate eye, Mars does not look so alien, but a rather familiar place. Without the signature reddish cast, you can imagine this being someplace on Earth. The photos of Martian clouds, looking like our sky on any given day, especially emphasize how similar this faraway planet is to our own.

Curiously enough, Imag(in)ing Mars includes representations of the red planet as both reality and myth. High-tech detailed digital photos trying to give the viewer a feeling of verisimilitude are shown along with science fiction books and videos like "Total Recall" and "Mars Attacks." The effect is somewhat disillusioning. Peering into the blue/red pictures with your 3D glasses, you can really imagine what it would be like on Mars. But nevertheless, there is some disappointment when you cannot find any "little green men."

While Imag(in)ing Mars tries to make alien worlds familiar, Ann Mandelbaum: Proximities does the exact opposite. In terms of photographic or artistic endeavors, Proximities is far more exciting. Mandelbaum's characteristic style is a close-up of bodies and other still life, made on such a microscopic scale as to distort the image past instant recognition into some kind of other-worldly landscape.

Proximities' first impression is very startling and provocative. While we have all seen the pictures of the Martian landscapes, Mandelbaum makes the human body - something so common and possibly the oldest subject in art - suddenly new. Her approach celebrates the beauty and textures of the human form on a detailed and nearly indiscernible scale.

Looking at Mandelbaum's photos is a lot like studying a magic picture. At first, the image looks like some shapeless, anomalous form. Then as your eyes adjust, you begin to see the true shape of an ear, an eye, a nipple or a mouth.

The most emotionally powerful images in the collection are of couples, met eye to eye, mouth to mouth. They evoke a mood of intimacy and sensuality, like one photo showing two pairs of lips, joined by an interlocking tongue. This captures Mandelbaum's ability to convey eroticism and intimacy, while challenging our perceptions of the human body.