Barrister's Gallery, Angela Berry Statement

Angela Berry
Brief Artist Statement

"Left out" captures man-made objects found throughout non-commercial
districts in the city of New Orleans. These objects have been “left out” in
the landscape for weeks, months, and years. The control of a city's identity
is often held by those it belongs to both financially and politically, and
while every city is invested in controlling the way it is perceived, New
Orleans, in particular, has a critical relationship with its representation.
The tourism, convention, and, most recently, film industries are driven
by the consumption of a particular definition of "New Orleans," so that
the city relies on the marketing of its culture and identity for economic
stability. The objects in left out illustrate a re-telling of a place through
the observation of what has been abandoned or neglected. They draw
attention to gaps in a communities’ awareness of itself and reveal a
disconnect present in the representation of a city most often depicted
through the polarizing lenses of celebration or tragedy.

The objects photographed in this body of work are re-created as 3-D
images, printed using a white ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene),
which is a plastic often used for rapid prototyping because of its strength,
finish, and cheap cost. Mimicking the process of how objects are produced
and brought to market, these 3-D images reverse the creation process by
bringing these objects from grave to cradle. In a culture where material
objects are designed to "wear out" rather than "wear in," objects that get
the most wear are replaced more often. These objects facilitate primal
needs for users that embody the beauty of what sustains us on a daily
basis: sleep (mattresses), connection (telephone poles), entertainment
(television sets), togetherness (chairs & tables), transportation (automobiles).
However, the decision to manufacture these items out of non-perishable
materials or "permanent" items reveals a denial of the impermanence of the
human condition. It is not rational to manufacture objects that will outlast
lives or generations, yet industries and consumers continue to invest in this
way of creating and building relationships between the material and
immaterial. left out resurrects forgotten or non-functional objects in an
attempt to elevate the histories of both individual and collective choices
that have led to their placement or displacement in areas of the landscape,
like parking lots, sidewalks, and vacant property, we are socialized to ignore.

- Angela Berry, February 2013