Blind Spot
Julia van der Vaart
Void
English
Hardcover (foiled and silkscreen)
Limited Edition of 750
152 pages
195 x 260 mm
2022
ISBN 9786185479244
‘Blind Spot’ by artist Julie van der Vaart is a poetic exploration of the concepts of imaginary time and deep time. Photographs of the human body, caves and water(falls) are choreographed into disorientating sequences to reveal correlations between images. Created over six years, each series of work in the book contributes to the artist’s ongoing attempts to represent through the photographic image the discrepancies between imaginary time and experienced linear time.
The title of the book refers to the blind spot where the optic nerve connects to the retina and no light-sensitive cells are present. The brain fills in the empty space based on the information surrounding the blind spot. The title acts as a metaphor for the potential divergence—the trick of the mind—between what we see and experience, and what is real.
Van der Vaart’s photographic archive consists of many series of nudes and romantic vistas which she continually draws upon to make new work. For the series ‘Beyond Time’, she experimented with darkroom chemicals to make the human form appear and disappear in the print—simultaneously present and absent—dissolving into the cosmos. She captured the insides of caves with photopolymer etches based on analogue photographs for her series ‘Deep Time’. The mineral deposits in the caves were formed by water continuously percolating between the rocks over millennia, creating sculptural bodies which represent a giant mass of time. The series ‘Waterfall’ takes its starting point the works of Zen monk and teacher Shunryu Suzuki in which the waterfall is used as analogy for life and the conscious. The waterfall representing a separation of energy and its later return to the whole.
(source: https://void.photo/blind-spot#:~:text=’Blind%20Spot’%)
About the Artist
Julie van der Vaart is a photographic artist and educator born in Maastricht, The Netherlands, and currently living and working in Belgium. She has a Masters of Fine-arts in Photography from the Media, Arts & Design-faculty in Genk, and a further Masters of Research in Art and Design from Sint Lucas Antwerp. She is supported by the Mondriaan Fund, receiving the stipend for established artists, and since 2021 she has been participating in the two-year international Masterclass Reflexions 2.0.
julievandervaart.com
(source: https://void.photo/blind-spot#:~:text=’Blind%20Spot’%)
About the Publisher
Void is an independent publishing house dedicated to photography books and education. The project is driven by its founders Myrto Steirou and João Linneu. You might bump into Myrto, Void’s editor, at a book fair or festival in a far flung part of the globe, but you’ll usually find her in Greece, at their store in Athens. João, Void’s designer, is based in Reykjavík… it’s entirely possible that you may not meet him (in person at least). Void works with both established and up-and-coming artists, proudly fostering photographers’ debut books.
Void has collaborated with many international art institutions since we started, back in October 2016. In 2021 Void became one of Futures Photography’s members. Void is devoted to and passionate about the projects they undertake. In their books, you will find powerful stories and innovative design, melded together with fine and experimental material.
void.photo
(source: https://void.photo/contact)
