History Is Personal Series. By Stanza 2008

Introduction to the Exhibition

The History is Personal exhibition of artworks originate from our surveillance based culture. These works together create a re-mediated portrait of society and culture in the digital age. Stanza has created artworks that reflect on the moral and ethical condition of our times.

About

Stanza's “History is Personal” are representations of what Stanza calls "The Mother of 'Big Brother' generation. The works display ghostly, chilling blurred images, each picture has a narrative, a history of time and place. Perceived as anonymous faces the subjects stare back at the CCTV cameras during their drunk and disorderly activities, like acts of defiance, whilst being snapped, trapped within the visual flicker of the ever spying eyes. As soon as they are captured for us to observe, they become shadowy reflections of our own selves feral representations of strange creatures in an urban zoo.

The darkness of these collected images allow us to observe our own subterranean fears, resting closely at the edge of what we as a supposedly decent society, accepts as normality. Yet there is a contradiction at play informing us that this is all too normal, part of the everyday. We are those people within these selected frames, as we scrutinize them, we judge ourselves.

The images from the series ”History is Personal” once viewed will invade your life forever. These people are kicking you to death. The moral and ethical compass changes you and your perception. The footprint leaves a permanent imprint in your memory. The effect of the “event” evolves, it has its own DNA . The images are invasive: The boundaries have become blurred. They are fragmented between what you see and what has taken place. History is Personal are modern life fragments fluttering in front of your field of vision in this X factor age. They have cross your identity and imprinted themselves in you mind forever.

 

The Exhibition. Available for Touring

36 digital artworks each individually titled and signed by Stanza.

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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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stanza CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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stanza CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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stanza CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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stanza CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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stanza CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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stanza CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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stanza CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza,  CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza, CCTV artwork
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Stanza, Steve Tanza, CCTV artwork

Exhibition.

Contexts

Each picture has a narrative, a history of time and place. The images depict the last whereabouts of a lawyer, the July 7th bombers, happy slappers beating someone up, people drunk in the street, thefts at gunpoint, sex in car, running someone over, stealing from a shop and trying the stuff on first. Other images include police abuse, child abduction, senseless fighting and terrorists using public transport. These are our children, our friends, and the images captured represent everyday social occurrences recorded by CCTV, seen by "watchers". Each image seems well composed of incidents of arranged figures. But as a whole the group of images make up a portrait of our culture.

 

Stanza's ' History Is Personal ', representations of the 'Big Brother' generation, re-mediated as history paintings representing a social portrait of England. These works showed ghostly, chilling blurred images "each picture has a narrative, a history of time and place". Anonymous faces stare back at the CCTV cameras during their drunk and disorderly activities, like acts of defiance, whilst being snapped, trapped within the visual flicker of the ever spying eyes. As soon as they are captured for us to observe, they become shadowy reflections of our own selves. Feral representations of strange creatures in an urban zoo. The darkness of these collected images allow us to observe our own subterranean fears, resting closely at the edge of what we as a supposedly decent society, accepts as normality. Yet there is a contradiction at play informing us that this is all too normal, part of the everyday. We are those people within these selected frames, as we scrutinize them, we judge ourselves. " A selection of these images were presented at the Radiator Festival Radiator Festival "Exploits in the Wireless City" at the Surface Galley Nottingham In Jan 2009. Surface Gallery: Preview: 14 Jan 6-8pm: 15-17 Jan 2-7pm: 18-24 Jan 2-6pm.

 

Titles "History Is Personal" Series.

Cultural Diversity---I’m So Vain---Grand Theft Auto---I Wont Be Home For Tea Dear---Just Havin A Laff---Sex In The City---Theatre Of Dreams---There For TheGrace Of God Go I---They Call It Road Rage---Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps---Were All Going On A Summer Holiday---We Are The Masters Of Your Universe---What Are You Looking At---What Do You Want To Do When You Grow Up---Do You Feel Lucky---You Tube Generation---Freedom Under Law---Five A Side---Kick Em When There Down---Late for Work---Leave Our Kids Alone---Lost Souls---Teenage Kicks Are Hard To Find---The Rise Of The Silver Surfer---The Stars Of CCTV---We Don’t Want No Education---You Belong To Me---Children Of The Revolution--You’ll Never Walk Alone---Ere We Go

 

Keywords cctv,, installation, surveillance, privacy, society, net art,

Touring These works and they are available for touring.

 

Steve Tanza , Stanza

Images of smaller series.

 

Steve Tanza , Stanza

Images of smaller series.