Art

Love Scene against the Wall - Sidewinder) - 2005, Edition 1/10. 100x320cm with white frame, each image is 70x69cm in size. Giclee Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag Paper, base...

Orange Flowered Couch (29 Palms, CA) Edition 1/10, 20x20cm, 1999. Digital C-Print, based on an expired original Polaroid. Signature label and Certificat...

Every Single Incident Weighs Tons (The Girl Behind the White Picket Fence) - 2013 90x89cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificat...

The Dance (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x48cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist Inventory...

Forevermore (Till Death do us Part) - 2005 58x50cm, Edition of 10, plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Invento...

Indian Summer III (The Last Picture Show) - 2005 Edition 1/5 128x126cm. Analog C-Print, matte surface, hand-printed by the artist, based on the original Polaroid. Signature label ...

The Drawing Room (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x48cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist In...

The Princess and her Lover (29 Palms, CA) - 2009 120x180cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on 15 original Polaroids. Certificate and Signature label....

Barren (American Depression) - 1997 44x59cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Inv...

Someday Soon (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 90x89cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist Invent...

Abracadabra (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. ...

A Million Dead End Streets (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x40cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. ...

Collage (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Art...

The Pink Dress (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x48cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist Inve...

Change Character (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x48cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist In...

Dusty and Susanna (Chicks and Chicks and sometimes Cocks) - 2019 50x49cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Signature label and Certificate. Artist inventory 22247. Not mounted. The 'Chicks and Chicks' series is part of my Desert Living Project, which encompasses all aspects of organic living including growing your own organic food, self-sustainability and regarding the beauty and personality of farm animals and their welfare in an endeavor to connect human needs back to the sources of living. The full circle of Industrialization returns to the homestead. In this captivating black and white Polaroid photograph, we are introduced to Susanna, a woman exuding an air of gentle elegance. Seated gracefully, she cradles a chicken named...

Dreamgirl (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x24cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. A...

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x48cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist...

Love you Actor Girl (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x48cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist...

I can't trace Time (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x48cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist ...

Psychadelic (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x48cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist Invento...

Deserted (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x48cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist Inventory ...

Desert Living (California Dreaming) - 2017 20x24cm, Edition of 10, plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Invento...

Any Way the Wind blows (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 40x50cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Art...

Desert Living (California Dreaming) - 2017 40x48m, Edition of 10, plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Inventor...

Desert Living (California Dreaming) - 2017 40x48cm, Edition of 10, plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Invento...

Small Breasts (Strange Love) - 2003, Edition 1/5, 60x80cm each, installed with gaps 127x80cm, 2 Analog C-Prints, hand-printed by the artist, printed on Fuji Archive Paper, based ...

Dusk (The Last Picture Show) - 2005 Edition 4/5, 38x36cm each, 131x127cm installed including gaps. 9 Analog C-PrintS, hand-printed by the artist on Archive Fuji Chrystal Paper, base...

Spheres (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Art...

Big Boy (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x24cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Art...

Free Range (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. ...

Magic Hour (Musica Poetica) - 1999 Edition 3/10, 44x59cm. Analog C-Print, hand-printed and enlarged by the artist, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist...

Living by Voices we shall never hear (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certific...

Black Bird (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. ...

On the Road (The Last Picture Show) - 1999 44x75cm including the white frame, image areas: 30x29cm each. Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the 2 ori...

Tomorrow (The Last Picture Show) - 2000 50x49cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Artist inventory number: 2750. Signature l...

Never Let Go (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2007 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label....

Four Corners (The Last Picture Show) - 2005 Edition 1/5, 38x37cm each, 38x208cm installed including gaps. 5 Analog C-Prints, hand-printed by the artist on Archive Fuji Chrystal Pa...

Tenderness (Chicks and Chicks and sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x24cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. ...

Precious (Chicks and Chicks and Sometimes Cocks) - 2019 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Ar...

Three Girls II (The Last Picture Show) - 2006, 50x49cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. ...

Lone Pine Dreaming (The Last Picture Show) - diptych - 2005 Edition 1/5, 58x57cm each, 58x119 installed. 2 Analog C-Prints, hand-printed by the artist on Archive Fuji Chrystal Pap...

A Rainy Day (The Last Picture Show) - 2006, 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Art...

A Rainy Day (The Last Picture Show) - 2006, 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Art...

On the Way to Big Sur (The Last Picture Show) - 2000 50x49cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Artist inventory number: 969. ...

A Mirage (The Last Picture Show) - 2006, 50x49cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist...

Fall (The Last Picture Show) - 2006, 50x49cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Inv...

Mojave Airfields (The Last Picture Show) - 2005 - 128x126cm, Edition 3/5. Analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist, based on the original Polaroid. Artist Inventory No. 695.03...

Guadalupe (The Last Picture Show) - 2005 38x37cm, Edition 2/5. Analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist on Archive Fuji Crystal Paper, based on the Polaroid. Artist inventory...

Magic Hour (Musica Poetica) - 1997 44x59cm, Edition 4/10. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Inventory No. 190.04. Not ...

Dodger Stadium (The Last Picture Show) - 2000 50x49cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Artist inventory number: 782. Signat...

Water Tower (The Last Picture Show) - 2005 Edition 2/5, 58x57cm. Analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist on Archive Fuji Chrystal Paper, based on the original Polaroid. Artist...

Untitled (The Last Picture Show), 2005 38x36cm, Edition 2/5. Analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper, based on the original SX-70 Polaroid. Inventory No. 781.02. Signature label and Certificate. Not mounted. LIFE’S A DREAM (The Personal World of Stefanie Schneider) by Mark Gisbourne Projection is a form of apparition that is characteristic of our human nature, for what we imagine almost invariably transcends the reality of what we live. And, an apparition, as the word suggests, is quite literally ‘an appearing’, for what we appear to imagine is largely shaped by the imagination of its appearance. If this sounds tautological then so be it. But the work of Stefanie Schneider is almost invariably about chance and apparition. And, it is through the means of photography, the most apparitional of image-based media, that her pictorial narratives or photo-novels are generated. Indeed, traditional photography (as distinct from new digital technology) is literally an ‘awaiting’ for an appearance to take place, in line with the imagined image as executed in the camera and later developed in the dark room. The fact that Schneider uses out-of-date Polaroid film stock to take her pictures only intensifies the sense of their apparitional contents when they are realised. The stability comes only at such time when the images are re-shot and developed in the studio, and thereby fixed or arrested temporarily in space and time. The unpredictable and at times unstable film she adopts for her works also creates a sense of chance within the outcome that can be imagined or potentially envisaged by the artist Schneider. But this chance manifestation is a loosely controlled, or, better called existential sense of chance, which becomes pre-disposed by the immediate circumstances of her life and the project she is undertaking at the time. Hence the choices she makes are largely open-ended choices, driven by a personal nature and disposition allowing for a second appearing of things whose eventual outcome remains undefined. And, it is the alliance of the chance-directed material apparition of Polaroid film, in turn explicitly allied to the experiences of her personal life circumstances, that provokes the potential to create Stefanie Schneider’s open-ended narratives. Therefore they are stories based on a degenerate set of conditions that are both material and human, with an inherent pessimism and a feeling for the sense of sublime ridicule being seemingly exposed. This in turn echoes and doubles the meaning of the verb ‘to expose’. To expose being embedded in the technical photographic process, just as much as it is in the narrative contents of Schneider’s photo-novel exposés. The former being the unstable point of departure, and the latter being the uncertain ends or meanings that are generated through the photographs doubled exposure. The large number of speculative theories of apparition, literally read as that which appears, and/or creative visions in filmmaking and photography are self-evident, and need not detain us here. But from the earliest inception of photography artists have been concerned with manipulated and/or chance effects, be they directed towards deceiving the viewer, or the alchemical investigations pursued by someone like Sigmar Polke. None of these are the real concern of the artist-photographer Stefanie Schneider, however, but rather she is more interested with what the chance-directed appearances in her photographs portend. For Schneider’s works are concerned with the opaque and porous contents of human relations and events, the material means are largely the mechanism to achieving and exposing the ‘ridiculous sublime’ that has come increasingly to dominate the contemporary affect(s) of our world. The uncertain conditions of today’s struggles as people attempt to relate to each other - and to themselves - are made manifest throughout her work. And, that she does this against the backdrop of the so-called ‘American Dream’, of a purportedly advanced culture that is Modern America, makes them all the more incisive and critical as acts of photographic exposure. From her earliest works of the late nineties one might be inclined to see her photographs as if they were a concerted attempt at an investigative or analytic serialisation, or, better still, a psychoanalytic dissection of the different and particular genres of American subculture. But this is to miss the point for the series though they have dates and subsequent publications remain in a certain sense unfinished. Schneider’s work has little or nothing to do with reportage as such, but with recording human culture in a state of fragmentation and slippage. And, if a photographer like Diane Arbus dealt specifically with the anomalous and peculiar that made up American suburban life, the work of Schneider touches upon the alienation of the commonplace. That is to say how the banal stereotypes of Western Americana have been emptied out, and claims as to any inherent meaning they formerly possessed has become strangely displaced. Her photographs constantly fathom the familiar, often closely connected to traditional American film genre, and make it completely unfamiliar. Of course Freud would have called this simply the unheimlich or uncanny. But here again Schneider almost never plays the role of the psychologist, or, for that matter, seeks to impart any specific meanings to the photographic contents of her images. The works possess an edited behavioural narrative (she has made choices), but there is never a sense of there being a clearly defined story. Indeed, the uncertainty of my reading here presented, acts as a caveat to the very condition that Schneider’s photographs provoke. Invariably the settings of her pictorial narratives are the South West of the United States, most often the desert and its periphery in Southern California. The desert is a not easily identifiable space, with the suburban boundaries where habitation meets the desert even more so. There are certain sub-themes common to Schneider’s work, not least that of journeying, on the road, a feeling of wandering and itinerancy, or simply aimlessness. Alongside this subsidiary structural characters continually appear, the gas station, the automobile, the motel, the highway, the revolver, logos and signage, the wasteland...

Four Corners (The Last Picture Show), triptych - 2005 Edition 1/5, 58x57cm each, 58x181cm installed. 3 Analog C-Prints, hand-printed by the artist on Archive Fuji Chrystal Paper,...

Love (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 120x180cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the 19 original Polaroids. Certificate and signature label. Artist...

Stage Right (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 20x24cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist Invento...

Dominion (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 20x24cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist Inventory ...

Rapscallion (Stage of Consciousness) - 2007 20x24cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label. Artist Invento...