2007 Portfolio Prize Runner Up: Caleb Charland
Wooden Box with Horseshoe Magnet, 2006
Using the laws of physics as a springboard, Caleb Charland puts elements such as fire, water, and man-made compounds to the artistic test in his series Demonstrations. In these alchemic images, he captures scientific phenomena in moments of still life as well as full-tilt action, calling to mind such forebears as Harold Edgerton and his freeze-frame milk droplets.
What happens when a can of WD-40 is sprayed directly into a flame? Don’t try this at home, instead, take in Charland’s gelatin-silver rendering of a ghostly chemical cloud enshrouding a lit candle. The disembodied hand in the far right corner is a nod to the wizard behind the curtain. In another pyrotechnic feat, a drill outfitted with a sparkler creates a perfectly symmetric spiral of light.
The yin and yang of strength and frailty are summoned by a weighty horseshoe magnet held in place with string and a cluster of delicate nails. Though the nails and the magnet are attracted to one another, in one of those sleight-of-hand tricks of nature, they never touch. In another poetic image, a trio of glasses act as vessels for water in its three forms: as a liquid, a solid, and a gas.
Among his influences, Charland cites children’s books of science experiments and the kinetic art of Peter Fischli and David Weiss.
All photographs from the series Demonstrations. Courtesy the artist.
Caleb Charland graduated in 2004 with a BFA in photography from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston. His work has been included in juried exhibitions throughout the United States, and he is represented by Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, Maine.
