Closing: Jonathan Calm, "Offline & Infamous" June 24, 2005

JONATHAN CALM
Offline & Infamous
May 20 - June 25, 2005

Caren Golden Fine Art is pleased to present Offline & Infamous, the second solo gallery exhibition by Jonathan Calm. In this exhibition, Calm's new videos and photographic images offer insights into the implicit beliefs about fate and chance that are a large, but frequently overlooked part of the urban world of the projects -- a world in which he was raised. Central to this new body of work is the scratch card, an omnipresent item by which many of the residents of these neighborhoods seek to change their socio-economic circumstances.

Using the documentary style of his earlier video works, which explore the lives of archetypal homeless and drug-addicted people, Calm took his video camera and a stack of scratch cards into the streets. There he asked strangers to let him film their hands scratching the cards, and in return, he or she could keep all of the money won. As each person scratched his or her card, stories, desires, and concerns spontaneously poured forth. The two videos in Offline & Infamous capture the real and metaphorical places from which the urge to begin Scratching Chance arises. One video consists of a grid of hands scratching different cards as the viewer hears snippets of the participants' thoughts and comments. Their words convey their optimism, desperation, resignation and religious zeal. A second video evokes a sense of claustrophobia by combining hands scratching cards with images from hallways, stairways and elevators in housing projects. Calm's Scratching Chance photographs are digitally combined images of used scratch cards with the shedding bark of Sycamore trees. These photographs encourage the viewer to look at hope, disappointment, and ultimately the gamble involved in coping with and seeking to change one's fate.

http://carengoldenfineart.com/