I had a chance to see Gregory Colbert’s “Ashes and Snow” exhibit this weekend at the Santa Monica Pier and I have to say, it’s quite an amazing couple of hours. You can get a very good feel for what you can expect by visiting the website.
The exhibit features three 35mm films (projected digitally on what I believe are TI machines) and over 100 large-scale still photographs imaged on handmade Japanese paper. The films and photos all are sepia or umber tone, grainy, and rich in mid-tones.
The exhibition is housed in a traveling building called the “Nomadic Museum”. The building was the collaboration between the artist and architect Shigeru Ban and is created from 152 steel cargo containers stacked 34 feet high with most everything comprised from recyclable materials. In short, it’s one huge building.
From a visual standpoint, the mise en scene is without a doubt awe inspiring. (Sorry for the pretentious phrase but in this case it is appropriate.) The composition, the use of slow motion, the lack of color, the editorial pacing, and the choice of settings, people and animals works perfectly in unison. It’s worth seeing, if for no other reason, than as a visual reference for future projects but I have to believe that you’ll get so much more out of seeing it.
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