Why do some people see the world as they do? Jolyon James and Raphael Ruz reflect their world view not only through their imagery, but also through the creative process they adopt. The 14 large-scale works produced in collaboration between these two artists encourage viewers to leave their preconceived ideas of digital photography at the door and be challenged, engaged and stimulated.
LocuLocu is the graffiti-like signature of James and Ruz that appears on each of the artworks, adding a further dimension to the complex artificial landscape imagery the artists create by using hundreds of photographs. The fluency and skill with which they apply Photoshop and digital imagery techniques is in itself a discussion of their world. The many individual digital images have been painstakingly merged together to achieve 14 seamless images. This allows the viewer to observe every detail from any viewpoint, with the same angle and clarity as the photographer. The very notion that you can observe a single, large-scale photographic image without perspective or the distortion usually associated with the traditional photographic lens is liberating. It also suggests that digital photography has its own identity and that LocuLocu are in the forefront of discovering the medium’s infinite possibilities.
LocuLocu’s latest series, GreyNation (2005), follows their notorious Anne Geddes-inspired Infant Series in 2002 and the Rubik Self of 2004. These contemporary photographs, all exhibited in provocative pink frames, engage the mind from the first moment and continue to challenge the social and cultural truths that surround us in our ‘real’ world.
The Autumn self promotes self-discovery and raises doubt about the space in which we exist. Standing in front of the vivid green two-metre cyclone wire fence, with nothing more than a grey, dimensionless void and a reflection of oneself, we question our existence, recall memories of freedom and captivity, and seek knowledge and direction beyond the given boundaries. Demands are placed upon our emotive and visual responses.
The elements within Twenty Eight self also captivate with the presence of the grey void. A reference, perhaps, to the technological base grey or alluding to a finite horizon? If the digital process, in its very basic form, paints with pixels of colour that are reflections of light, then this image has transformed the light into a commentary of our cultural existence. The Rubik’s cube, the voyeuristic bird, the tree as a barren net capture—or support—an Australian identity. The clouds separate