Event time:
Tuesday, April 9, 2024 - 5:30pm
Location:
Loria 351 (190 York Street)
Event description:
Inspired by platinum prints’ formal and material links to atmosphere, this talk begins from the premise that, aesthetically, platinum prints excel at rendering atmosphere. Materially, platinum’s use in photography is also linked to problems of physical atmosphere: experiments on platinum printing were driven in part by the susceptibility of silver prints to fading or discoloring through exposure to polluted air. Platinum became an important substitute for silver-based processes, in part due to silver’s vulnerability to atmospheric pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Tracing the entangled history of photography and platinum mining draws into view the connective tissue between geology, raw materials, labor, empire, colonization, and art.
Siobhan Angus is Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Carleton University. Previously, Angus was the Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Art at Yale University. Trained as an art historian, she holds a Ph.D. in Art History and Visual Culture from York University.
Admission:
Free
Open to:
General Public