Roman faisant face à la fenêtre du sleeping, Lyon, 2020
Inkjet print
Edition 1 of 5
30 x 26 cm
Created during France's second COVID-19 lockdown, Roman faisant face à la fenêtre du sleeping depicts a lone figure in an abandoned building reclaimed as a squat. Their resigned posture near the light suggests a futile longing. Protective layers of fabric, a necessity during the strict lockdown, evoke historical paintings, imbuing the scene with dramatic significance. The grid-like spatial elements, expanding endlessly beyond the frame, challenge the expectation of constant communal conviviality, highlighting the ordinary nature of individual existence in alternative living spaces.
Metaphysical dualism of paradoxical light: The picture's metaphysical qualities, interplay of light and shadow, and ethereal figure evoke biblical scenes of revelation or emancipation. The stark composition, with paradoxical light and shadow, creates an unnatural, staged setting. This light, as in Lerma's other works, reflects the duality of light and dark (Mikuriya, 2017),1 imbuing the scene with an abstract, dreamlike quality.
Micro-utopian experiment of a liminal communitas: Lea Lerma's work depicts two friends participating in a micro-utopian experiment initiated during the second COVID-19 lockdown. This experiment explored alternative social and physical constructs within a derelict urban structure and later extended into the wilderness. The group, reminiscent of Turner's "communitas," exists within a "liminal space" (Turner, 1995)2 characterised by suspended societal norms and temporal ambiguity. The group's gestures, movements, interactions, and clothing contribute to this ambiguity. While the group's experiment initially represented idealism, Lerma's work contrasts this by portraying the harsh realities of life in these environments, which are physically more dangerous and bear the mental pressures of urban life.
A subversive psychological fairytale quest: Lerma's protagonists, akin to Red Riding Hood and Snow White, are young adults transitioning into adulthood, venturing into uncharted territories (Lüthi, 1976)3 and undergoing self-definition (Flores, 1996).4 Fantastical elements within Lerma's work facilitate suspension of disbelief while grounding scenes in tangible reality (Vasudeven, 2017).5
Free, fearless, uncontrolled and unsafe: Lerma's communitas, unlike alternative subcultural "safe spaces," prioritises openness and risk over safety. This "unsafe" space facilitates greater freedom, potentially including the risk of mortality. Activities such as hanging around cliff edges like here in the wilderness, with no access to emergency services or basic necessities, exemplify this extreme openness.
Notes:
1 Mikuriya, Junko Theresa. A History of Light: The Idea of Photography. Bloomsbury, 2017.
2 Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process. 1995.
3 Lüthi, Max. Once Upon a Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales. F. Ungar Pub. Co,1976.
4 Flores, Nona C. Animals in the Middle Ages: The Book of Essays. 1996.
5 Vasudeven, Alexander. “Reassembling the City: Makeshift Urbanisms and the Politics of Squatting in Berlin.” The Autonomous City: A History of Urban Squatting. Verso, 2017.
Frame: Unframed
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Close Considerations
Paradoxical progression of time through light and space: The window light, unevenly illuminating the room, creates a disharmonious light-space relationship, amplified by the camera's exposure. Despite the grids' spatial equalisation, the dominant light distorts spatial perception. This leads to a paradoxical progression: textures shift from undifferentiated blur of the window in the ‘past’ to sharp clarity of the shadows towards the viewer in the ‘present,’ while the light moves in the opposite direction in forward movement. This transition from past darkness to present light and colour (Nochlin, 1985, p.32)1 against the textures in the opposite direction challenges the viewer's positionality, creating temporal uncertainty.
Spatial expansion through intersecting grids: The bottom bed rail, converging from the left, aligns with the figure, making the window and its light central. However, the grids, hidden in the shadows, of intersecting lines, including the floor, bed, windows, radiator, ledge, and ceiling grid, equalises the elements, defying the light's focus. The grid by its very nature extends endlessly, encompassing everything around it and implicating the whole communal space in the figure's melancholy.
Fabrics with historical echoes amidst intersecting lines: Layered fabrics, common in squats to conceal the occupiers’ presence, also serves the group's desire for comfort and beauty in their reclaimed spaces. Light and texture interplay with the fabrics, evoking historical painting and suggesting enduring meaning within their precarious existence. The fabrics’ flow contrasts with the rigid intersecting lines of the grids on and formed by the spatial elements, adding to its visual interest.
Implied audience within relational space: Lerma's compositional strategies transform her images into relational spaces that involve the viewer. The depicted subject/s, whose identities remain obscured, acknowledge Lerma's presence through a partial body orientation. This angled positioning, combined with the vacant area for Lerma's perspective, emphasises the empty space filled by the viewer and their psychological impulses.
Discontinuities, asymmetries, and open frames: Lerma's breaks the focus by using discontinuities, asymmetries, and open frames enriching this scene by disrupting its visual harmony and preventing rigidity. John Slyce (2000) notes, "The frame sets limits while offering a tangible means of escape."2 Lerma achieves this through cropped sections, leading lines extending beyond the frame, figures interacting with off-frame elements, and awkward props.
Notes:
1 Nochlin, Linda. Realism. Penguin Books, 1985.
2 Slyce, John. On Time, Performative Realism: The Photographs of Sarah Jones, Museum Folkwang, 2000.
Process
Pre-emptive intuitional composing: Lerma's process involves anticipating and capturing spontaneous configurations among her friends in various spaces, employing intuitive pre-emption to preserve the moment's energy and mystique. She utilises specific camera settings, such as a wide aperture and slow shutter speed, to capture details in dimly lit spaces, contributing to the mood and emotional depth. She strategically positions herself or awaits the ideal light or for her subjects to assume particular poses or interactions, balancing spontaneity with a clear intention regarding the desired capture, resulting in organic yet meticulously crafted compositions.
Unprivileged view: Lerma's compositions align with Tillmans' notion of the "unprivileged view" (Godfrey, 2017),1where the artist's presence minimally influences the scene. Subjects often remain oblivious to Lerma, creating an atmosphere that "provokes a feeling of not mattering rather than command" (Ibid.),2 enabling the viewer to engage with the scene without undue artist interference.
Embedded ethnography: Lerma assumes the role of a "documentary observer," employing a systematic process of observation to allow the landscape to reveal itself without imposition, as articulated by hooks (1997).3 From within the communitas, Lerma offers a literal perspective aligned with Turner's concept of “heroic time,” rendering her an effective anthropologist of her own culture (Turner, 1985).4 Her ethos mirrors the communitas' values, marked by a spontaneous and immediate approach to relationships. Subjects within the communitas retain the autonomy to approve or withdraw consent for the use of their photographs.
Process as political action: Rancière's (1999)5 framework on the “aesthetics of politics” posits that art transforms into political activity by disrupting the established symbolic order through the exposure of previously invisible elements. Lerma's practice, while intertwined with her political life, differs from photojournalism, which presents events as mere records or spectacles. Conversely, Lerma captures "the image of the photographic rhetoric that is purported to capture the event" (Guerra, 2006),6 offering a comprehensive understanding of the group's actions and underlying processes.
Disconnected instants and implicit intertextuality: Lerma's works, presented in artist books with variable image sequences, allow each work to be viewed within diverse contexts. This lack of a fixed sequence creates a dynamic constellation of "disconnected instants" (Berger & Bohr, 1982),7 where juxtaposition generates echoes, contrasts, and recurrences, forming "implicit intertextuality" (Ricœur, 1984).8 While the book format provides a meta-continuation, Lerma's practice of altering the sequence ensures each picture's autonomy, enhancing its individual sovereignty.
Iterative composing and tautological reinforcement: Lerma's iterative compositional process generates multiple variants to elucidate the core structure and select the most impactful representation. This tautological approach reinforces the compositional elements' conjunction and interrelationships, as Allison Smith (1998)9 asserts. Despite facial anonymity, Lerma offers hints about her subjects' identities through body language and poses across different tautological contexts, facilitating viewer interpretation of actions and interactions, and engendering a viewer-subject relationship.
Notes:
1 Godfrey, Mark. Worldview. In Wolfgang Tillmans 2017, edited by Chris Dercon, Helen Sainsbury, and Wolfgang Tillmans, Tate, 2017, pp.14-76.
2 Ibid.
3 hooks, bell. “Between Us: Traces of Love—Dickinson, Horn, Hooks.” In Earths Grow Thick, Wexner Center for the Arts, 1997.
4 Turner, Victor. On the Edge of the Bush. 1985.
5 Rancière, Jacques. Disagreement: Politics and Philosophy. University of Minnesota Press, 1999.
6 Guerra, Carles. Notre Histoire, Catalogue of the Exhibition. Paris: Palais de Tokyo, 2006.
7 Slyce, John. On Time, Performative Realism: The Photographs of Sarah Jones, Museum Folkwang, 2000.
8 Ricœur, Paul. Time and Narrative. Translated by Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer, University of Chicago Press, 1984.
9 Smith, Allison. Agnes Varda. Manchester University Press, 1998.
References
Vinca Petersen: Lea Lerma's reference to Vinca Petersen, the artist and former nomadic squat dweller, highlights their shared experiences. While Petersen's group embraced rave and party culture, Lerma's resonance aligns more closely with Petersen's depictions of interpersonal connection and natural landscapes, capturing moments of ecopsychological euphoria.
Goya’s progression of time through light and space: Goya's Third of May unfolds temporally and spatially within the pictorial field. The narrative progresses from an undifferentiated background, describing the 'before,' to a climactic, light-revealed execution scene, representing the 'now,' and concludes with fallen figures at the pictorial boundary, signifying the 'afterwards.' This temporal progression is boosted by light intensity, colour saturation, and materiality, as noted by Nochlin (1985).1
Sarah Jones and Dutch-Flemish Painting: Lerma's works, including this one, often exhibit structural configurations similar to Jones's pictures and Dutch-Flemish painting. Figures appear deeply engrossed, while settings pulsate with subtle significance (Higgie, 2000).2 A system of micro-signs forms a psychological narrative, with hints found in hand and foot positioning (Troncy, 2000).3 Lerma's brilliance lies in the silent interplay of places, objects, and people, which convey the intensity of a Greek drama (Higgie, 2000).4
Rembrandt, Caravaggio and Vermeer: Lerma's work resonates more with Rembrandt than Caravaggio or Vermeer, all of whom she mentions in discussing her practice. Her figures though caught in chiaroscuro-like moments and in quiet poses of Vermeer, exhibit Rembrandt’s quality of calm yet bold receptivity and a sense of awe towards the potential for transcendence within the ordinary. The evanescent light on the figures, sometimes subtle and other times radiant, imbues them with a mystical connection. (Image: Rembrandt, Philosopher in Meditation (or Interior with Tobit and Anna), 1632; Vermeer, The Milkmaid, 1660)
Nan Goldin: Lerma's work is influenced by Nan Goldin's exploration of intimate relationships, capturing moments of isolation, self-revelation, and adoration (Sussman, 1996).5 However, Lerma's approach differs from Goldin's photojournalistic snapshots, as Lerma's work is meticulously composed through pre-emption and tautology, resulting in a unique, rigorous, and more metaphysical visual language. (Image: Nan Goldin, Nan and Brian in bed, New York City, 1983; Copr. Nan Goldin)
Notes:
1 Nochlin, Linda. Realism. Penguin Books, 1985.
2 Higgie, Jennifer. Sarah Jones. Le Consortium, 2000.
3 Troncy, Eric. Sarah Jones. Le Consortium, 2000.
4 Ibid (2)
5 Sussman, Elisabeth. Nan Goldin: I’ll be Your Mirror. Whitney Museum of American Art, 1996.