Jeffrey T. Baker
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Morticulture

11/2/2012

4 Comments

 
I haven't walked an Oregon beach in years and not run across at least one sandy and picked-over carcass of a duck, gull or fish. And the young growth along the floors of our forests seem half supported not by soil, but by the rotting nurse logs that have fallen victim to wind, water, disease, or some combination thereof. 

A retired Forest Service employee, during a recent tour of the area around Sitka, used the tongue-in-cheek term morticulture to speak to the abundant life that takes residence in the decaying carcasses of trees. Regardless of the term used, the truth is inescapable: nature is as much a culture of death as it is of life. They are inextricably linked and the distancing effects of technology and culture do nothing to alter this. Once you step into any meaningful interaction with the landscape all of this becomes very apparent. You begin to not just analyze how the passing of life begets other life, but also consider where you fit into the present web: how you are consuming and (chillingly) how you might be consumed.  
Picture

There is no shortage of precedent for glorifying death with the luster of gold. Above is one small work in progress that nods to that convention even as humanity is completely removed from the honorific.

4 Comments
Lauren link
1/9/2013 03:38:23 am

Came across your site while looking at the other photographers that are in Photography at the Edge. This post of yours has helped me out with text for a little ongoing project I do while hiking with my dog in the Montana woods. I'm not very good with words nor artist statements so I stole your words and did give you credit. I'm going to try to get to the opening of the show and look forward to maybe meeting. Thanks! (for the images: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151355870758501.503903.170506333500&type=1&l=c45a26dc88)

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Jeffrey
1/11/2013 02:30:16 am

I'm glad some of this wording could be helpful to you Lauren-- it seems to me that putting words to one's artwork is often the most challenging part of being an artist (and, some might argue, the least important part). Dead Things With Sugar is a striking series. . . I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work in person at the Photography on the Edge exhibit.

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Lauren link
1/14/2013 02:39:22 pm

Thanks for the compliment. I went back to one of the "crime scenes" today and photographed the skull under snow and then let Sugar have at it. I am in agreement that it is the least important - until, that is, you start submitting your work to be judged as art. That's where it gets tricky. It was cruising through the list of included artists and then coming across your post and perfect words that actually spurred me to post the images and see it as a series. So thank you very much! :)

space screensavers link
12/5/2013 12:34:54 am

First time to your blog and just wanted to say hello.

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    For over a decade Jeffrey T. Baker has explored the elegiac and sublime through his mixed media artworks. He harbors an unapologetic predisposition for the decayed and imperfect. 

    Presented here are his thoughts on artistic process, inspirations, tutorials, and information about related upcoming events.

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    Posts prior to 2011 visit Subjective: The Artful Life

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