Playing Horizons

With the series Playing Horizons, Blanca Viñas questions the rules and technical impositions established in the photographic field. The rule of thirds, the composition of the image, the placement of the horizon always horizontally or the warning not to superimpose exposures, among other norms, serve the artist to explore disobedience and generate a playing field ruled by new criteria. The possibilities of analog photography multiply and open up a space of its own where it can be exercised freely, with chosen restrictions and in no case imposed. The execution process gives prominence to chance, to error, to surprise and, of course, to play, so important in Viñas’ practice.

In this case, she uses four triangular masks inside the camera and interchanges them in four different exposures. The masks form a diagonal that moves across the frame, from top to bottom and inverted as a mirror. The passage of light is blocked in the middle of the frame, thus overexposing every fourth part of the image twice. When shooting, the artist also uses colored filters. The generated composition takes the form of a pattern that treats the photographic unit in a modular way, to achieve more complex structures, as if it were a puzzle or modular construction game.

The choice of a maritime landscape full of sailboats introduces the concept of travel, contemplation and exploration, and gives room for the discovery of an alternative reality, with other restrictions where play also finds its place. In the end, the project proposes new rules of the game, with never-ending combinations. The result invites the viewer to modify his perception of the laws of gravity or to let themselves be carried away by a universe where constraints open up to an infinite range of possibilities.

Analog photography. Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White 310 gr. Matte white aluminum frames and museum glass. 60 x 40 cm. c.u.