Deconstructed Convention Center 6/01
Deconstructed Convention Center 6/01
Deconstructed Convention Center 6/01
ArtistLinda Hesh

Deconstructed Convention Center 6/01

Date2001
MediumInkjet print
Dimensions18 × 22 in. (45.7 × 55.9 cm) Framed Size: 24 1/2 × 29 1/2 in. (62.2 × 74.9 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection
Object numberDCCAH2002.084
ClassificationsPhotographs
Locations
  • Contract Appeals Board (441 4th Street NW, 350N)
DescriptionThis was shot at the construction site of the new convention center in Washington, DC. Standing in one position, Hesh rotated the camera, shooting single images high and low, side to side. Back in the studio, on the computer, she started looking for pairs or groups of photos that might match up. Two images came together, but the side edges didn't line up completely. The top image was overhanging to the left, but rather than cut off the images so they made an even rectangle, she decided to leave it uneven, as it was. It seemed to portray the excitement of the building being constructed with beams zigzagging back and forth and flat walls hanging in space. All of the artworks resulting from this shoot were collages constructed from two to dozens of separate photographs. Sometimes the edges of individual shots are blended together and other pieces have jagged outside boundaries. The surrounding blank white space becomes part of the composition. Perspective is disrupted, reality distorted, space extended or compressed, confounding expectations and drawing you into the image. A group of four photographic color images arranged two over two in a horizontal format to form a larger view of a construction site. The scene is of the top floor of the new Washington Convention Center at the skeletal stage.