Through the Looking Glass of Time

Last Friday, our second artist in residence this year, Johannisburg native Jay Caboz, who normally works there as a photographer, took the time to present himself and his works. Once again selected in cooperation with Camera Austria and the Market Photo workshop, a south-african organisation for photographers that amongst other things teaches classes in photojournalism, he started his presentation by explaining South Africa's history of apartheid and how this history and its memories are being more and more changed and phased out now. This is very interesting as last years photographer Thandile Zwelibanzi, coming from a similar geographic background and even having a similar interest in people and their history, seemed to be a lot more at ease with Southafricas past to the point that he didn't even deem it worthy of mention.

Jay, on the other hand, specifically searches for locations that are being rewritten, be it by renaming streets and buildings, or by finding places he knows as a cityscape he drives by to be squatted by people. It's always very important for him " to create landscape that draws the viewer in, that invites to wander into it and look for traces."

So what are his plans for Salzburg? He's here to accompany and document the academy and its proceedings, but from what angle will he approach it? He puts it thusly: "On the one hand, I see the Summeracademy as an institution with it's very own long history, and want to concentrate on the residue the artists leave behind, their conversation with the city and its buildings, but also on what makes them come back. Then, there's also my position to consider here. Am I a resident, or a tourist? This creates an interesting conflict I'll look into as well."

Judging from the work he showed that Friday afternoon, we can look forward to an interesting work that will show as a very different side of the academy and its participants. i'll be looking forward to seeing it. [mp]