Artist Lecture #1: Alec Soth

Alec Soth followed his fascination of the American landscape to document the world and celebrate its uniqueness. By doing so, he has a strange collection of images that seem almost deadpan, but with further investiagtion the connections between the work begins to plant seeds of thought and curiousity for the viewer. Soth's work mainly stems from the roadtrips he has taken alongside the Mississippi river. Ironically, there is only a few images of the actual river included. The series is more of beds, houses and other subjects which resided alongside the body of water.Through out the lecture Soth put a huge emphasis on the need and desire to "hitting the road." He quite romanticized the idea, explaining his process, "trying to move through space to connect the dots." He related his traveling to "being out there and moving" and the images that he was creating as the connecting tie.

What I enjoyed most about his lecture is that he made references to historical photographers as well as those he admired and respected. I believe this gives great insight into an artist mind, the audience has a deeper understanding to the meaning and inspiration behind the work. Soth frequently mentioned the works of Robert Frank, William Eggleston and Lee Friedlander. It reminded me greatly of our own student process, the need to know and recognize artists that relate to us. I was impressed that Soth spoke so openly and so admiringly about these artists. This earned my respect. Soth didn't seem full of himself even though he has an extensive amounts of recognition and awards.

My favorite project Soth presented was his participation in a magazine article, The Most Beautiful Girl in Georgia. I was highly amused by this idea, the search for such a particular ridiculous thing. The way he described his process and the adventure was amusing, the clincher is the images he shows of his find: the back of the womans head. Soth also tells of another treasure hunt: The Loneliest Man in Missouri. Soth's catch--a nightime nurse who frequents strip clubs everynight. Something about these themes, his finds, really speaks to me. I enjoy the idea these bizzare quests. I found this to be very inspirational and I hope to come up with my own expedition, who knows, I've always wanted to find the world's cutest cupcake. Hmmm...

Here are some images of Alec Soth's work, enjoy!