Last week (I know, the time delay is despicable) I attended a Humble Arts Foundation show curated by John Feinstein at New Century Artists. According to the artistic statement, the photographic show featured a peculiar and idiosyncratic body of work paralleling the peculiarities and idiosyncratic nature of contemporary life... The blog 'subjectify' extrapolated additional themes of the show which apparently included the reaction against "office entombment" and our gratification with "mundane interactions with nature". But is this demand for comprehension in an an exponentially unraveling world materializing in 'strangeness', disillusionment with physical realities, and a general dip into nihilism? I mean, come on, do we really have to go there?

It seems basic to me. A common theme that's discernible everywhere from stock imagery, advertising, art, to the ever-growing green movement, is 'back to basics'. I personally work in the 'entombed office environment' that subjectify analogizes to Eric Percher's office portrayals-- and it's really not as suffocating as it's so often proclaimed to be. What I find smothering is not the homogeneous physical environment that Percher visually captures, but what all of us, ESPECIALLY photo bloggers, deal with everyday-- multitasking our facebook with our email with our blog rolls with our iphone with our ipod with our newsalerts. This influx in technology translated as information is where the concept of liberation becomes entombment-- we inundate ourselves and frenetically suffocate.

I see 'Things are strange' as less about a look at the paranormal, but as more about a revisiting of antiquated normalcy. Most information is attainable in our contemporary world, so incomprehension through a disconnection is an attractive prospect. We have a need to revisit undiluted curiosity apart from our current satiation thanks to wikipedia... Maybe we want to be confused.

When I think about these things, my attention turns to photographer Lee Materazzi. Materazi creates abnormal situations where her subjects find their heads dislocated in unnatural positions. The appeal of imagery comes from the aesthetics of the content, but also from the fact that Lee doesn't use any Photoshop manipulation. Technical trickery is laid aside for unadulterated content. Back to basics, where the image is just plain strange and where the mystery isn't spoiled by a modern toolbox.