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Artist Statement
Videos
When I first walked into Winslow Farm Animal Sanctuary in Norton, MA, I was introduced to the concept of an animal utopia, where recovered abused and abandoned animals freely roamed the land and coexisted in a peaceful environment. The treatment of the goats, sheep, and other animals was very different from what I had known from having spent a lot of time in my father's farm in Argentina.
These video pieces are about my "sessions" - intimate situations in which I put myself at their mercy in a half-controlled environment. On one hand, I am trying to lose my self-consciousness and conscience, letting myself go and allowing them to take control. On the other hand, I feel I am very aware of what is happening and am discovering another side of myself with and from them.
Photographs
Although I strongly feel connected to the rural culture in Argentina where I grew up, I realize that I am now an outsider. My unique perspective fuels a mix of curiosity and desire. Every road trip to the Pampas complicates even more my understanding of the rural culture; I photograph as a way to make sense of my experiences.
The series "Animals" represents my interest in the complicated relationship to the natural world as seen in the Argentine rural landscape. I speak to this by photographing the ways in which animals are integrated into and dominated within farming environments as well as displayed within stores and on the side of the roads. Rather than seen as taboo, the crude evidence of life and death is treated as part of Argentine life and folklore.
In my "Accumulation" series, I am drawn to places that allude to the concept of a shrine. For me, these sites need not necessarily be restricted to spiritual practice and may well be the interior of someone's home or a store. I fascinated at how items are arranged within a particular space. It is these kinds of places that makes me want to stare for a long period of time.
- Guillermo Srodek-Hart
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Click on each image for larger version and caption.
Animals
 
 
Accumulations
 
 
 
 
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