Book Launch: Matthew Larkin's "Suspended in Time"

Artist and designer Matthew Larkin's stunning new book of ambrotypes, Suspended in Time revives a classic mid-19th century photographic process by creating positive silver images on black glass. In spending two years with the Rites of Passage suspension group, Larkin's extraordinary photographs chronicle these devotees whose practice in modern times underwent a major revival following the publication of Re/Search's Modern Primitives in 1989. Suspension groups quantum-leaped forward thanks mostly to the Internet, in particular due to the devotion of Shannon Larratt et al in Canada through their BME zine, where no shortage of suspensions and groups can be found.

What makes Larkin's work so captivating and poignant are his ingenious methods of capturing these practitioners in a timeless way. While other books such as Larratt's Modcon have focused on the wide pantheon of body modification, Larkin's is the first to exclusively cover suspension, and his brilliant photographs are augmented by the clever and handsome design by New York-based Binocular Design. With 70 duotone illustrations, the full-page images of these suspensions have a lush quality, glossy with tinted varnish. In a limited edition of 2000—one hundred of which are signed and numbered by the artist—the book is available directly from Black Barn Editions.

Listening to Larkin describe the process of transferring these fragile glass plates to his New England-based printers, The Studley Press, you begin to understand what a tremendous labor of love is involved in the antique photographic process. Last night at the book launch party at The Xchange, a terrific party space on West 28th Street, a number of the practitioners were surrounded by the curious attendees, who observed both the ambrotypes and the suspendees with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. Of course, business suits and heavy mods don't regularly mix in Manhattan, but since pioneering ad executive Fakir Musafar reached the pinnacle of success through Modern Primitives, the staid set has taken up tattooing—as anyone who wanders around New York City in warm weather can attest to. Suspension, in contrast, remains rather esoteric for most Manhattanites, even for the challenged corporate executives who otherwise brag about their mountain-climbing trips to the Andes or retreats in the Himalayas. In publishing Suspended in Time, Larkin again reveals not only his mastery of bygone photographic techniques, but also marries his visionary photographic abilities with a keen eye for observation of the modern primitive. True to form, the well-attended opening featured large C-prints that were suspended with hooks and ropes used in actual suspensions. Larkin's next book, The Ornamental Hermit: The Fictional True-Life Story of a 19th-Century Hermit, returns to yet another world the artist has explored in depth, which will be a highly evocative (and likely provocative) exploration of fanciful 19th-century decorative 'living hermit' designs.

Tags:   binocular design, bme zine, fakir musafar, matthew larkin, modcon, modern primitives, rites of passage, shannon larratt, suspended in time, the xchange

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Posted on 5/2/2007 ( Permanent Link )
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