Dissolving Boundaries:
Beyond the Architecture of Photography

My involvement with computer art began ten years ago. I was intrigued by the rumors of the potential that the Macintosh had to offer as an artistic tool. I soon discovered that computer technology provided me with the opportunity to manipulate, edit and expand the photomontage format that I felt most suited my personal artistic expression. My work reflects my interest in both the Dada and Surrealist art movements, primarily in the use of the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated visual elements. This methodology enables me to present an almost "cinematic" storyline based on the relationship of each of the vignettes within a particular piece. The computer offers me an even wider range of possibilities within the photomontage format. The technology has actually freed my range of expression and allowed an even more personal shaping of the symbolic elements I use in my work.

There is an odd contradiction in my current work in that I am attempting to create "mythic images" which relate both to the collective unconscious and the personal process of individuation while using advanced industrial technology. I am hoping to move beyond some of the current hard edged approaches to computer art and to present both in image content and coloration, a world where the borders are not so well defined. Here is where the technology excels in providing me with a way of crafting dreamlike sequences that seemingly float into each other, overlap and merge, reflecting the inner processes I am attempting to portray. My desire is for the viewer to be unaware that the art was created on a computer.

My art is a combination of myth, spirit, science and technology. I see myself as a modern alchemist, using silicon chips as a tool to transform electrical patterns into art. As I have indicated previously, my attempt to portray an element of mystery is the guiding factor in these works. The juxtaposition of the image elements hopefully serves as a catalyst for the viewer's recognition of her/his own inner processes of transformation. The computer does not destroy your soul as I once thought but rather has liberated a creative aspect of the self which might have otherwise remained undiscovered.


Please email me at fenster@sfsu.edu