Many of you will probably not recall my rantings regarding Art Chicago, 2008. I realize it has been some two ot years since that glorious day. Why, you ask, am I referencing such an item of yore? It has to do with one of the artists my original article spoke of, Sze Tsung Leong (STL). As a quick refresher on why I thought his work sucked, allow me to sum up his articulate artist’s statement: “I make pictures where the horizons line up, making them look the same when they are actually different.” BORED! Sounds like a high school photo project to me!
Recently STL and his work have been brought to the attention of the media and art world. As surprising as this may seem, it’s not because of the conceptual thread and success of his work. It’s actually due to the accusation that someone is copying his work. Really? You want to get into the lucrative career of copying art, and you picked him of all people to copy!? I suppose it’s due to the simplicity and ease of copying his work; make pictures that line up. Done. Art. Fame.
The story goes like this. A Canadian photographer named David Burdeny is being accused of making images that are almost exact replicas of STL’s work. I’ve looked at the work of both photographers and definitely notice the similarities. Perhaps the word similarities shouldn’t be used, instead copies. All of Burdeny’s images are taken from the same vantage point, at the same locations, with the same horizon lines as STL’s. Heck, even Burdeny’s statements are almost identical; “I make images that line up. This makes them the same, yet they remain different.” Now of course Burdeny and his rep deny any and all similarities. Yeah, this guy is actually rep’d by some gallery who has apparently been trying to get STL to show at their gallery for several years….and can’t. So what do they do? Hire David to make the EXACT SAME PICTURES instead! No one will ever know the difference right? Lets be honest, anyone with two good hands and an eye could make the same boring images (sorry Steve McCurry and Keith Carter). Seriously though, enough of the conversation about who copied what, the history of appropriation throughout the photographic medium’s short life, and originality. That’s all old news and belongs with the “is photography truth” or “is photography an art form” conversations (now playing in community colleges around the globe). Instead, lets talk about how bad these images are! How is that not the topic of discussion!? Or perhaps, what that hell was Yossi Milo thinking!?
Upon reading about this accusation, I couldn’t help but recognize Sze Tsung Leong’s name and the terrible ideas behind his work. I kept thinking to my self, there’s no way someone would copy that guy. Low and behold the unimaginable has happened; some lazy Canadian has decided to take the easy road and try to copy the most boring work ever in an attempt to make it big. I really hope that David Burdeny isn’t serious with this crap. And frankly, I hope Sze Tsung Leong isn’t either.
My eyes hurt.
