Jason Salavon

This past Friday I went to see the artist talk with Jason Salavon and Penelope Umbrico at the Hagedorn Gallery. I thought they both had some interesting thoughts in regard to their work however I will spare everyone any further insight into Penelope’s sunset installation. What was extremely interesting about Jason his assertion that he is not a photographer and that his medium is data and not the paintings that he reformatted for this particular show. His work involves mathematical averages of data sets involving a seemingly random assortment of subjects and really has nothing at all to do with photography except for the fact that some of his series involve using photographs, such as his Playboy Centerfold series. Similar to that of the Dutch masters series this series is an averaging of every Playboy centerfold for the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Jason emphasized that fact that information can be read in regards to changing trends throughout the decades. He pointed out that in the 1960s one can see more hair and as the set progresses to the 1990s the forms become brighter. This seems to build a chart of information similar to a chart except in a more abstract form. Jason presented another series, which created more of a visual graph for the viewer charting the US production of shoes from 1960 to 1998. This series can be seen as a 3 dimensional animation or as a set of prints showing a steeply climbing form, displaying how production of shoes is drastically being exported as the years’ progress. This series is dramatically different visually from the playboy and Dutch masters series however, all of his series do have a concern with representing this data in an aesthetically pleasing work. This coupled with his innovative use of media leave me wanting to see more of his work.