Joe Clark, Somewhere in West Virginia, 2009

This piece presents us with a photographically veracious possibility. Projected on a screen in front of us, we can see an archetypal petrol Station in a black field of night- a familiar motif in Joe's practice. The image is recognizable as some kind of video as we can see that it is raining slightly and we can detect flicker in the canopy's lights. We know from the title that perhaps this petrol station is in West Virginia- could this be a web cam image? is what we are seeing live?Approaching the console positioned in front of the screen we can see dials and switches with labels like 'FLUTTER' ad 'POWER'. Randomly turning and flicking them we realise that there is a direct correlation between the behavior of the light that the petrol station is emitting and also the character of the rain in the scene. Walking deeper into the space we pass an assemblage of buckets suspended one over the other with water being pumped between them to create a rudimentary rain-machine. This is being filmed against black velvet and fed back to the console that we were just fiddling with.By playfully mixing live and pre-recorded sources Joe is attempting an expansion of the field of the photograph. Joe has recently completed his MFA at the Slade in London where he has been experimenting with both the moving image and the implications of live and installation approaches to his practice. Typically making works that resemble flawed monuments of some kind; offering us access to a sublime experience that we can’t quite believe in.

Joe Clark

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Joe Clark

London

Newcastle