Studio Fantasy

source: designboom

By manipulating the human body into contorted geometries and abstracted formations, american photographer bill durgin plays with the observers perception of the scene. the curled up, fractured anatomies — some semi-concealed behind boxes and wooden blocks – study the corporal limitations from a fresh angle, resulting in a series photographs that are both fascinating and slightly disturbing. working with his own body, and sometimes with dancers and performers who take contortion to the extreme, the artist realizes a collection of living sculptures. with only a small portion of skin, muscles and limbs exposed, the viewer is left to interpret which part of the body they’re actually looking at, as shoulders seem like knees, and necks could be calves. deconstructing the physical characteristics and intermixing them with inanimate objects results in anatomical-cum-architectural compositions.
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source: saatchiart

My photographs reflect a fascination with the body as form. The complex figurations, undulating arrangements of flesh, as the body seems to collapse onto it self, image an almost abstracted figure lacking appendages and hair. The physical structure becomes not just a shell, but a moving sculpture of skin, muscle, fat, and bone.

The gesture within each photograph is created through exploring my own physical limitations and collaborative improvisation with dancers and performers. Often I will come up with a pose and demonstrate it and then ask the model to repeat or respond to it. Each pose transmogrifies the figure towards abstraction; exaggerating or diminishing the skeletal structure until it approaches an amorphic form. I want the bodies to be recognized as bodies, but also to be detached from common perceptions of the figure. Bound within each singular view, the uncanny figures convey the body as both abject and marvelous.
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source: ignantde

Bill Durgin is one of our favorite artists and we are glad to introduce his latest series ‘Memory Black’. He describes the series as ‘memory foam and black fluid’. Looking at the pictures we really get a rather oppressive feeling as if someone would mess with our usual perception. What is it that we are looking at? Is it human? Is it real or fictional? We are left alone with our thoughts, free to associate. Durgin himself states: ‘Memory Black is dark memory, poignant memory, obliterated memory. Memory is ambiguous and often liminal. Memory foam forgets. Black is dark. Black is sexy. Black is obliterated.’
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source: designandstuffse

Jag såg Bill Durgins fotografier för första gången i Acne Paper’s vårutgåva från 2012 och hans verk fastnade. Älskar hans skulpturliknande människokroppar, det skapar ofta groteska former man inte trodde var möjliga, man rentav tvekar på om det faktiskt är möjligt eller inte. Nedan är ett urval av hans fotografier, blandat med uppdrag för olika företag och egna utställningsverk.
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source: i-refde

Bill Durgin ist Fotograf, seine Arbeiten erinnern jedoch eher an einen Bildhauer. Oder doch einen Designer? Dreidimensionale Formen, die sich auf den zweiten Blick als menschlich herausstellen, stehen da in sonst kargen, leeren Räumen. An eine Wand gelehnt, auf Stühlen sitzend oder frei im Raum präsentiert der Künstler den menschlichen Körper als verfremdetes Objekt.

Befremdlich auch für den Betrachter. Man fühlt sich eher an Fotografien von Einrichtungsgegenständen erinnert, denn an humane Portraits. Nachdem man den Gegenstand von Durgins Bildern erkannt hat, wähnt man sich bei von Hagens, die menschlichen Formen wirken wenig lebendig. Der Fotograf erstellt seine Portraits, wenn man sie so nennen mag, mithilfe professioneller Tänzer, die ihre Körper in Positionen bringen, die unnatürlich und nur noch wenig menschlich wirken. Der Kopf der Modelle bleibt immer verborgen. Man muss sich orientieren an Rücken, Hüften, Ansätzen von Schultern und Po. Die typischen Identifizierungsmerkmale stehen nicht zur Verfügung. Durgin präsentiert uns die eigenen Formen als faszinierende Körperstudie aus einem unverbrauchten Blickwinkel und weckt zugleich eine tiefe, dystopische Angst vor dem Verlust der eigenen Identität.

“My photographs reflect a fascination with the body as form. The complex figurations, undulating arrangements of flesh, as the body seems to collapse onto it self, image an almost abstracted figure lacking appendages and hair. The physical structure becomes not just a shell, but a moving sculpture of skin, muscle, fat, and bone.”
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source: sinembargo

Por su parte, el norteamericano Bill Durgin está basado en la fotografía y principalmente trabaja con figura humana. Sin embargo, su serie “Assemblage” (montaje o embalaje) combina la presencia de cuerpos desnudos con cajas de cartón, logrando una composición minimalista. La belleza de las fotografías de Durgin reside en los pocos elementos que la integran. Basta un asomo de piel, una extremidad y una caja para que la rigidez de la figura cúbica y las curvas humanas se fundan en un todo.
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source: trendkg

Билл Даргин (Bill Durgin) — американский фотограф, работающий на стыке абстрактной и эротической фотографии. Билл в 1995 году окончил Tufts University. Живет и работает в Нью-Йорке.
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source: designaside

La plasticità del corpo nudo è l’oggetto di studio dell’artista americano Bill Durgin. Posizioni complesse trasformano le linee sinuose del corpo in figure astratte isolate sulla scena.
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source: arte-factoheregesperversoes

Aos corpos é exigida uma extrema flexibilidade, como se a destreza física tivesse que resultar de sucessivos exercícios de contorcionismo. Além de observador, Bill Durgin também participa nos seus registos como modelo representado.

“Para a representação dos nus, trabalho com bailarinos, modelos e com o meu próprio corpo para criar formas esculturais através de contorção e perspectiva. Resistindo a visões tradicionais da figuração, pretendo representar o corpo como uma escultura viva, verdadeiramente humanizada. Não há qualquer retoque de pós-produção, admitindo-se apenas quando necessária a correcção de cor, tonalidade ou manchas ocasionais. Todas as imagens são apresentadas como foram realmente fotografadas.” (Bill Durgin)