Sarah Rose Guitian

Residency period: March-April-May 2019

March 2019

Through the lens of her camera, Sarah captures ephemeral details of day to day life, unnoticed objects or unconscious little gestures that are so inherent in our everyday reality that we become unaware of them. The photographs reflect on the passing of time by recording these momentary occurrences and freezing moments that otherwise would pass by without a trace. These details, seen almost as sculptures by the artist, shed light not only on the irreversible flow of time but also on its circular rhythm. By observing them, one starts to notice some repeating patterns, routines and habits, structured by time fragments, like the drying school uniform hanging outside on Sundays or a flower opening and closing its petals in different times of the day.

Sarah’s process, observing the Blanca environment from a certain distance, without interaction, also leaves space for imagination and creation. Not knowing the real purpose of a subject allows her to construct her own narrative.

By her approach Sarah creates a back and forth game, playing with the dialectic of art and the everyday. She shifts overlooked objects to the level of artistic observation, then in some cases reinserts them into our daily lives. Using the contemporary photographs as part of an item that we carry around with us all the time, a keychain, she invites us to look at things that our view would pass over.

April 2019

In the second month of her residency Sarah’s method has changed as her position shifted from the one of the observer to a more participative approach. While last month Sarah’s process was about noticing the tiny details of Blanca from a distance, creating her own narratives around them and by this picturing the irreversible yet sometimes seemingly circular flow of time, this month she decided to engage with some of the locals. She has collected their stories, including some about specific places, and by this, the artist has also gained an impression of the “frozen” time of an isolated place, the unchanging aspects and routines.

Using this material and her own observations, she has created a montage in the format of a sound recording that she presents for this month’s open studio. This cloud of texts read by the artist is contextualised by the images she displays, adding a further layer for interpretation. By the unusual installation the artist invites the viewers to step out of their comfortable patterns of looking at things and to make an effort to discover the hidden details.

May 2019

At this month’s open studio Sarah presents a retrospective selection of the work she has done during her residency period in the past three months. The installation, using different elements from photographs to writings, projection and objects, invites us to wander around and catch a glimpse of the ephemeral details of Blanca through the intimate lens of the artist.

Using the sentence “the aliens are invading us” from a graffiti around Blanca as a metaphor, Sarah reflects on her position as an artist from the outside, discovering and scooping inspiration from the impressions of this enchanted place.

By her approach Sarah creates a back and forth game, playing with the dialectic of art and the everyday. She shifts overlooked objects to the level of artistic observation, then in some cases reinserts them into our daily lives. The work reflects on the passing of time by recording glossed over details and momentary occurrences, by freezing moments that otherwise would pass by unnoticed.

By her unusual and delicate approach to the surrounding details, and the way she presents the results of her investigation, Sarah invites us to step out of our comfortable patterns of looking at things and to make an effort to discover the hidden aspects.