Hello Mr. Althouse
I am writing to you from Miami University in an attempt to find an answer to my question. I met you when you were a visiting artist with your solo exhibition at the Art Museum a couple of weeks ago, and I was the girl who asked you multiple questions about the antlers from the Ardennes ... perhaps you remember. Anyhow, I was wondering if you could please tell me what the Braille reads that has been digitally placed on the scraps of cloth hanging upon the antlers. I really feel that the words you chose to encode in this photograph could really expose some sort of meaning. Also, if you could please send me the official title of the photograph; that too would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much for your time and I'm sorry to bother you!!
Sincerely,
Hello .....
Thank you for your e-mail. I remember your interest in the image. Here are some answers to your questions.
'Ardennes Antlers', 2003, 42 x 31 inches, Braille phrase: Quis custodiet ipsos custodies (Latin meaning something like: Who shall keep watch over the guardians?.... who shall guard the guardians?). The original title 'Massacre Ardennais' is Belgian French roughly meaning 'rack of trophy antlers from the Ardennes '.
Lots of different things were going through my mind while I formulated the idea for the photograph, and I began making some unusual connections. I had been visiting the Ardennes in Belgium and noticed many antlers hanging on the sides of houses as some type of ornamentation. They made me recall my grandparent's summer cottage that I visited often as a child in the forested mountains of Pennsylvania , which were very similar in the look, feel, and tranquility of the Ardennes . The name of the cottage "the Antlers" was hung over the front door, along with a rack of antlers... the same as what I was seeing in the Ardennes.
Intertwined in all of this is the fact that some of the fiercest fighting in WWII took place where I was now walking in the snow blanketed forest, with terrible loss of lives for both Germans and Americans. I've always reacted strongly against the senselessness of war that we humans habitually use to resolve our problems, and felt saddened by the tragic dramas played out in this spot only 60 years ago.
Lastly, the cloth strips themselves are old bandages which I found in the attic of my Belgian house. They belonged to the late lady of the house who had serious health problems which emotionally stemmed from a deeply tragic event in her life.
It was a difficult piece to complete because I originally set up the assemblage outdoors in my back yard, while living in Belgium not far from the Ardennes . Due to my using a view camera and tripod in order to get large negatives to permit my printing to a large scale, I had to shoot with long exposures; longer than 15 seconds. Even on the calmest days, there is always a slight movement of air, and the resulting negatives had slight movement blur in the hanging cloth. After unsuccessfully re-shooting over and over on different days, it became apparent that I needed to change the environment. Since I couldn't move the tree, I disassembled the antlers and cloth and shot the bare tree trunk. Later I photographed the antlers tied up to an old wooden beer keg in my house. The first shots again resulted in movement of the cloth, because the exposure was now into the minutes due to the dim interior light from the windows. So I had to put towels and cloth at the bottom of the doors and windows to prevent drafts. After finally getting a sharp image, the elements were assembled digitally, as well as the addition of the phrase in Braille.
Hopefully this will be of some help.
Steve
Stephen Althouse March 07, 2006