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Alan Constable
Alan Constable, Untitled (Black SLR Camera), 2008
Born in 1956, Melbourne-based artist Alan Constable has been exhibiting his work for almost 15 years. Working out of the Arts Project Australia studio, he has shown in numerous commercial and public galleries across Australia and internationally.
Constable's two dimensional work consists predominately of reinterpreted images from old books and magazines such as National Geographic, often featuring solitary figures, animals and landscapes. In his recent practice Constable has turned his attention away from the landscape and wildlife images in these magazines, to the camera advertisements that appear on the remaining pages.
The vintage cameras pictured in these advertisements inspired Constable to rediscover a practice that he developed during his childhood, when he constructed intricate models of cameras from cardboard and glue. Returning to this subject matter, Constable developed a series of ceramic cameras that have been exhibited as part of the Australian Ceramic Triennale in Sydney, as well as in a solo exhibition at Melbourne's Centre for Contemporary Photography.
Unlike the originals, which possess the clean, hard lines of modern design, Constable's cameras appear soft, organic and malleable. Constable does not intend for his cameras to be identical reproductions, but his own personal exploration and reinterpretation of the originals, created to satisfy his long-standing fascination for vintage cameras.
For Constable, an important aspect of this reconstruction is his exploration of the camera's internal chambers, which he often reconstructs and encloses within the ceramic outer shell.
