Hans Edward Hammonds
Tou Scene, Stavanger
5.-28.4.13
Photos
In the Beer Halls at Tou Scene, Hans Edward Hammonds presents his photos. An almost impossible task, to display "just" photos in such vast spaces. But the presentation is well considered. In the entrance hall the photos are hung on the wall as usual, but in one beer hall the photos are put on fitted tables, and in the other halls in light boxes. This gives an interaction with the viewer and takes hold of the space.
The photos give an impression of being an outsider, a voyeur to somebody else's life. Here are pictures of holidays, parties and sights of unknown quality. Some pictures are uninteresting, some enigmatic, some repulsive. It is not your life, but maybe you would still like to know more about it?
I find the paradox in this photo intriguing: On a projected photo you see two peope and a projector. They seem rather uninterested in what is projected, while I am becoming more interesting in what is projected from the photo. Maybe what they see is a projection of me, and it does not seem interesting at all for them.
And what I considered the highlight is the hall of wide-angle photos of flat interiors, displayed on custom-made tables. The interiors reveal quite a lot about the inhabitants. Or does it? Is it my prejudice when I see the Ikea-bought poster on the wall, or the heap of cigarette butts, or the bicycle and study books?
The layout of the exhibition is the key to this exhibition. These photos could easily have disappeared in the space. And some do as well. But some of the carefully displayed photos are standing out to grab your attention and trigger your imagination.
