John Harper
Breaking & Broken Ground

28 February — 20 April 2008

A limited edition, artist’s book is available to buy

John Harper is best known for working with photo-media as a sculptural form, & who often spends lengthy periods on location researching. His interest in the way in which the photograph can present both a real & mediated experience results in the use of constructed photography works that lie between pictorial representation & contemporary land art.

For Breaking & Broken Ground, Harper carried out a year-long period of research & photography (April 2007 — March 2008) investigating nearby Fermyn Woods & the adjoining countryside as the raw material for the work. He performed site visits in predetermined stages — ‘Planting’, ‘Gathering’, ‘Forming’, & ‘Transposing’, reflecting the conceptual staging of the project from the initial idea through to display of the work.

At The Water Tower his findings were displayed using large-scale constructed photography (photographic montage & assimilation), drawings & the written word which unearthed & animated the space. Hundreds of black & white photographs were displayed together to form large visual amalgams that flowed organically over the gallery walls.