A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust is David Campany's speculative history of the last
century, and a visual journey through some of its most unlikely imagery.
Let鈥檚 suppose the modern era begins in October of 1922. A little French
avant-garde journal publishes a photograph of a sheet of glass covered in dust.
The photographer is Man Ray, the glass is by Marcel Duchamp. At first they call
it a "view from an aeroplane." Then they title it Dust Breeding. It鈥檚
abstract, it鈥檚 realist. It鈥檚 an artwork, it鈥檚 a document. It鈥檚 obscure but
strangely compelling. Cameras must be kept away from dust but they find it
highly photogenic. At the very same time, TS Eliot publishes the great modern
poem "The Waste Land": "I will show you fear in a handful of dust."
The exhibition鈥檚 connections range far and wide, from aerial reconnaissance
and the American dustbowl to the Middle East via conceptual art, landscape
photography, still life imagery, scientific imaging and police files.
Recommended for you
A Handful of Dust is David Campany's speculative history of the last
century, and a visual journey through some of its most unlikely imagery.
Let鈥檚 suppose the modern era begins in October of 1922. A little French
avant-garde journal publishes a photograph of a sheet of glass covered in dust.
The photographer is Man Ray, the glass is by Marcel Duchamp. At first they call
it a "view from an aeroplane." Then they title it Dust Breeding. It鈥檚
abstract, it鈥檚 realist. It鈥檚 an artwork, it鈥檚 a document. It鈥檚 obscure but
strangely compelling. Cameras must be kept away from dust but they find it
highly photogenic. At the very same time, TS Eliot publishes the great modern
poem "The Waste Land": "I will show you fear in a handful of dust."
The exhibition鈥檚 connections range far and wide, from aerial reconnaissance
and the American dustbowl to the Middle East via conceptual art, landscape
photography, still life imagery, scientific imaging and police files.
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