I've begun to rewrite Exposure, a collaborative "chapbook" started in spring 2011--a document, really, created for a performance: Women of Naropa reading. The state of being exposed to contact with something: in this case, the war in Afghanistan, the disaster in Japan. What does contact mean in this sphere. Distance exists. Exposure through media: newspaper, radio, TV. And still: the exposure creates a physical condition: the body transfixed; the body impaled. So the notion of dying from exposure takes on a different kind of meaning.
The experience of something. What is my exposure to these tragedies. The observation of such events leaves an impression. One might write indelible. That which leaves a mark. That which cannot be removed. The surface of skin pressed upon. An outline. A scar. I am reminded of Ana Mendieta's Silueta series. The body pressed upon the earth. A dark silhouette against. Against. Against.
And yet these interpretations of exposure have yet to be fully explored... Instead, there has been a focus on the photographic, the film, the light. The lens as it creates perspective: narrows dimension and space. An investigation on the effects of "capture" (photo, film) on aftermath. Note: Barthes' notion of studium (the interpretation of an image) and punctum (the wounding that establishes direct relationship). What is the aperture that allows for overexposure. What filter mitigates the wounding. At a distance, am I placed at risk. And which direction will be faced.
