Berlin - the People's Palace/Yellow Cranes

One of a series of 27 single edition photographs shown at Clarke Gallery in November 2008. The complete series is viewable online, at flickr: flickr.com/photos/clarkegallery/sets/72157610338386714/. Every few months more photographs will be released and offered for sale. Every photograph is Rubber Stamped and signed on the back. EXHIBITION TEXT 6x4 Single Edition Series - Part 1 by Elly Clarke 27.11.2008 – 01.12.2008 clarkegallery@gmail.com Selling off my Archive 'Martha Wilson: Mind if I yell at you for selling your archive? Elly Clarke: You can indeed yell at me for selling my archive... ; ) But it's really only the small 6x4 prints. I still have the negatives, and, in the most part, the scans of them as well. I'm interested in the notion of the 'authentic' 'single edition' photograph in the digital photo age. And I'm interested also in lightening my load for the next time I move to another 4th floor walk up apartment. And I would prefer my photos to be somewhat noticed on people's walls, rather than sadly dustifying alongside their neighbours in an envelope in a drawer. I also like the idea of selling single edition art at a very affordable price.' These days, most photographs that are taken never make it to a print. A print is a physical object. And a physical object can only go so far. It can be seen only by a limited number of people. It can travel only as far as anyone is happy to carry it. And in the carrying, it risks being lost or damaged. When a photo is printed, it is because it has been selected to be displayed or distributed outside the constraints of a screen. Its transition from pixels to print is a deliberate and considered act. Which makes the photographic print, perhaps more than ever before, a fetish object. In my case, I still do it the old fashioned way. I use, for the most part, a Leica M6 and 35mm film. And I have all my films processed and printed in 6”x4” format. While the 6”x4” size may not be considered very exciting in the context of much larger-scale digital prints, I find it is. Since so few photographs are printed, when they are, they're usually larger than the snapshot format. 6”x4” is not enough of a statement. It is also beginning to look dated. It smells of bygone days. Of dust, of cupboards crammed full of objects that are no longer very useful, but which you cannot throw out due to the sentimental value associated with them. Here I am offering 27 single-edition prints for sale, selected from photos I've taken in countries I've spent time in this year. These are England, India, Wales, Croatia, France, Italy and, of course Germany (Berlin), where I moved this summer. From Friday 28th November all photos will be uploaded to the Clarke Gallery flickr account (flickr.com/photos/clarkegallery/), where they'll have the potential to reach a further-flung audience. Over the next few months I plan to release more sets of photographs every couple of months, to sell as single editions via these means. I am interested in the negotiation between physical and computer-mediated interactions and experiences in terms of relationships, community, sense of self, personal archives and history. Some Places I Have Never Been To, (2003), showing in the kitchen, is a selection of slides taken by my father during travels he made during the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s. They were discovered in a box only after he died, in 1999. This is the second exhibition of Clarke Gallery. It would not have been possible without the help of my trusty collaborator and fellow artist Christian Sievers. Elly Clarke Elly Clarke has a BA in History of Art (Leeds) and a MA from Central Saint Martins (London.) She has exhibited her work at venues that include Kiasma, Helsinki, Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, London Gallery West (London), Globe Hub (Newcastle), Seven Seven (London) and The Other Gallery (Banff, Alberta, Canada).