As a young artist in Los Angeles, David Seidner comes across the work of John Cage, which inspires his fragmented pictures, his way of setting them in motion (they break down, re-assemble). Yet he leaves little to chance, his photographs are formulated with great precision.

Painters, visual artists and choreographers inspire his research into the engagement of matter, and give rhythm to his work. Both the photographic negative and the alchemy of photography form the basis of his experimentation, as well as the amalgamation of ‘impoveri she d’elements of scenery : iron wire, cracked mirrors or glass, sheets of glass which have been painted over, printing, superimposing, contrasting, juxtaposing.

A perfectionist, he explores and masters all the techniques which are likely to free him up in the way in which he relates to his subject matter. Fluxus inspires him as much as modern art, cubism or classicism.

The Artist Portraits

He reclaims the symbols and categorisations of antiquity, as a framework for his creativity. As the anthropologist and iconographer of contemporary art, he wants to leave a mark, to write himself into the landscape which he is exploring. Head-on portraits, where, in spite of the detachment he wants to feel, (drawing his inspiration from a series of ancient, blank-eyed busts), the solidity of the model regains the upper hand. A model fragmented again by the sole shadow from which it emerges.

The Nudes

In search of authenticity he reverts to sources of classical harmony. Ever the anthropologist, he makes an inventory of human statuary, within which he submerges himself, to the point of becoming his own model.

The Orchids

His insatiable hunger for encyclopaedic knowledge, which he has accumulated extensively has sometimes been too rigid a frame. He renounces formal structure, absolute rigour. As his strength leaves him, he uses a disposable camera, and, for the first time, colour negative film. The frame no longer has borders, the colours explode, his subject envelopes him, he welcomes it of his own free will and rejoins his first aspirations (see John Cage), his initial quest. He lets go.