Blog 11

AES-F Group, The Feast of Trimalchio

The Feast of Trimalchio,triumph of america, 2009

The Feast of Trimalchio, triumph of asia, 2009

The Feast of Trimalchio, arrvl of gldn boat, 2009

http://www.aes-group.org

The Feast of Trimalchio,

Trimalchio is a character in the Roman novel the Satyricon by Petronius. From the Middle Ages, first published in 1664 CE.

Trimalchio on Wikipedia


The Subject as Object : 
The Feast of Trimalchio makes the viewer question the human condition, the subjects of the photos are placed within the roles of desire, to own and posses the life we are told to live. Each of the people within the photo are allowing for a critique of that notion, they allow for the viewer to see how the comercial world exploits people and their desires in order to make money. The use of social stereotypes within the photographs allows for a better understanding of forced social image, many of the white people within the work are dressed in all white clothing, a color of leisure and wealth, while black and asian's are in traditional clothing. In some of the photos the stereotypes are reversed drawing attention the the placement of stereotypes in commercial advertisement.  Many of the people look as if they were pulled straight from an Izod commercial.  This work is a direct critique of this style of advertisement, and allows for the viewer to create their own ideas about commercialism and advertising.

Spectacles and illusions, photography and commodity culture
The work shown in The Feast of Trimalchio, both through the title and the images found within the body of work are commenting on the notions of wealth and power, and the ways in which people choose to live their lives when they have more money than they would ever need. The photographs have many stereotypes found within them, commenting on commercial advertisements for sporting apparel like Izod as well as flipping and intermixing racial stereotypes.  The people are shown within the idealized world that is so often shown in advertisement, as well as celebrity culture. This work is a direct comment on that life style and the desire to make your own life fit into this hyper real existence.
 
Sweet it is to Scan, Kodak and an imposed social role:
The work shown in The Feast of Trimalchio is in some ways commenting on the way commercialism and social class create this desire to fit a role. Much in the same way that Kodak told people how to live there lives during their free time and that a Kodak camera can deliver that life.  Now consumerist advertisement is telling you how to live through the clothing you wear and the car you own as well as a million other things you are told about who and how you should live. The work in this series is commenting on that pressure that is placed on people and the feelings created when you fulfill the role they are telling you to play.


New Work By James, November 2010

Highway 34, Brush Colorado, 2010

What does it mean to document something that is no longer new? Can you learn something new about the world from something old? I chose this photo because I think you can, you can learn about your history, and maybe something about your future. The things you think are great and new may some day lay in ruins lost in time. That place shows where you may have been or the life of someone you know. I chose this photo because I feel it shows a glimpse of what the world was like before.

Turkey Day America, 2010

How is it that something so good can look so bad, this was a great dinner and lunch and dinner again and maybe even again, but this is not how I think of thanksgiving. This photo is so telling of so many things, its family and life, necessity and gluttony, it is this wonderful family holiday that in the end leaves me laying on the couch watching football and yelling at myself about why I just ate a weeks worth the food in two hours. 

Puppy in a antique Ford, Road G. Yorke NE. 2010

I chose this photo because this has become something of a comical challenge between myself and a good friend of mine. We have for about the last half a year been passing back and forth this small greeting card with a picture of a dog on it, trying to one up each other with every new photograph in the process. We have the intention of publishing the work as a coffee table book some day in the future most likely when we feel this project has come to an end, as of now there are no deadlines.