Untitled 426 2007

Carl Chiarenza made this artwork with gelatin silver prints, using collage and assemblage techniques. Here, the materials themselves influence the appearance. We can see how Chiarenza used found materials, scraps really, and how these have been carefully arranged and then photographed. It is interesting to note that gelatin silver prints are a traditional photographic process, while collage and assemblage were embraced by the Dada movement. Chiarenza’s processes imbue the artwork with cultural significance, as he transforms ordinary objects into something new. The image is made of disposable, everyday things – bits of packaging, perhaps. By isolating and reassembling these materials, Chiarenza makes us consider the waste and ephemerality of our consumer culture. And ultimately challenges us to rethink our relationship with these materials. Through his careful compositions, Chiarenza elevates the discarded, reminding us that even the most humble materials can be transformed into art.