Still Lives Extreme

The photography exhibition Still Lives Extreme embraces and plays on a Karl Marx maxim that states, “Nothing can have value without being an object of utility.” In terms of the idea of aesthetics or a concept of what a to-be-looked-at-ness suggests, the still life is simplistic, as it is basically a portrayal of inanimate objects. Still Lives Extreme is an honest and amusing effort by Vancouver-based artist Dana Hawkes to give utility to objects that have been found, repurposed, and cast in resin. Using lighting, movement, and strategic framing to falsely elevate these objects into what could be considered a form of usefulness, these still lifes play with the idea of the art object.