Freshly-turned Soul
Waterloo Battlefield, Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium.
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 2 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters.
Courtesy of 50°49'19.50''N 4°21'25.53''E galerie de l'erg, Brussels.
On the Periphery of Public Space
Photography As Countermonument
Monuments are historically concerned with claiming a ground that cannot be challenged – seeking to maintain assumptions of singularity, centralization, legacy and perpetuity. The Countermonumental perspective, however, embraces and employs multiplicities, peripheries, dispersal and impermanence.
These works represent the uprooting and reinterpretation of physical monumental structures which were originally erected to be seen in a clearly prescribed manner. This is accomplished via the simple repositioning of the Camera’s perspective in relation to the Monument.
No hammers, chisels, building materials, cranes or power equipment are necessary to reinterpret or re-contextualize the monuments depicted. Even so, these physical tools of change are often visually referenced in the work in order to compare the Camera as a tool of monument-making and the physical act of constructing and deconstructing monumental structures.
Through the act of photography, monuments can be redefined and repurposed in order to expose the structural influence of cultural memory and historical narrative. The following image gallery presents a selection of artworks resulting from research conducted for the doctoral thesis Countermonumental Strategies: On the Periphery of Public Space.
In acknowledgement of this research and associated artworks, the title of PhD in Arts and Sciences of Art was awarded to Craig Havens by the ED20 Joint Doctoral Program in collaboration with Ecole de Recherche Graphique, Brussels (ERG) and Université de Louvain (UCL) on June 9, 2020.
Butte de Leon & Dirtpile
Waterloo Battlefield, Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium.
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 2 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters.
Courtesy of 50°49'19.50''N 4°21'25.53''E galerie de l'erg, Brussels.
Songs For Future Revolutions (Mirrored Defense)
Soviet War Memorial (Treptower Park), Berlin, Germany
Pigment Print on Paper in collaboration with David Evans. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 50 x 148 centimeters
We Tourists Til The End
Zabriskie Point Overlook Access Ramp
Death Valley National Park, California, United States.
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters
Flags & Tar Pits
Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, United States.
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 2 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters.
Something To Really Cry About
Dai Lo Brick Works, Hanoi City, Vietnam
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 300 centimeters
The Lustgarten (Everybody Knows Our Cities Were Built To Be Destroyed)
Reconstruction of the Berliner Schloss, Germany / First Constructed 1442 / Destroyed 1950 / Reconstruction 2019
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters
Not The Man They Think I Am At Home
Promotional Display of the Embassy of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Hanoi, Vietnam.
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeter
Behind The Back Of The Buddha
Great Amitabha Buddha, Phat Tich Mountain, Bac Ninh Province, Vietnam
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters
Geronimo Surrenders (Attrition)
Geronimo Surrenders Monument, Geronimo, Arizona, United States.
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters
Universal Landscape
Execution Wall and Courtyard, Breendonk Concentration Camp, Breendonk, Belgium.
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeter
Songs For Future Revolutions (Mirrored Offense)
Main Gate of Buchenwald Concentration Camp (Reversed), Weimar, Germany.
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 50 x 148 centimeters
Temple Phnom Bakheng (Everybody Knows Our Cities Were Built To Be Destroyed)
Deconstruction and Restoration of Temple Phnom Bakheng, Cambodia. (erected circa. 889 AD)
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters.
It Ain't Bragging If It's True (ED.)
Entrance Gate to Edward Leedskalnin's Coral Castle, Leisure City, Florida, United States. (erected circa. 1923 AD)
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters.
Same Old (Same Old)
Cleaning of the de-faced Bismarck-Nationaldenkmal (Tiergarten), Berlin, Germany
Pigment Print on Paper. Edition of 3 / AP 1, 110 x 148 centimeters