Out of the Past: conflated reality

Since her aunt took her as a young girl to the afternoon matinees, film noir has been favorite genre of Patrica Carr Morgan’s. Out of the Past centers on these films and is shot entirely with a camera obscura. To explore the simultaneous, yet conflicting, immersive and dissociate qualities of movies, the artist mimics their layered construction of reality by using original film stills as a backdrop for a new tableau of objects. The juxtaposition of found artifacts and the camera obscura with contemporary technology and concepts brings a unique cultural relevance to this work. Iconic images—from Peter Lorre in Casablanca to Louis Jouvet in the The Lower Depths—draw the viewer in to further explore the added complexity in each image.

Some of these works are included in the exhibition Reality is a Good Likeness, launched by the University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona.

Archival Pigment Print
Museo Max paper
15” x 15” to 40” x 30”
2004-2005