Carrie Schneider: Sphinx | MASS MoCa
Carrie Schneider, Sphinx (the answer isn’t man), 2023, 16mm film, color, silent 16 minutes. Courtesy of the artist, Candice Madey, New York and CHART, New York. Installation view, Carrie Schneider: Sphinx, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA. March 11 2023 - September 2023
Text: Emily Ranieri
Using a combination of photography, film, installation, and performance, artist Carrie Schneider investigates the ability of a camera to be an instrument for intense precision while simultaneously acting as a vehicle for abstraction and experimentation. At MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, Schneider presents Sphinx until September 17, 2023. In a myriad of works created by the artist over the last two and a half years, Schneider reflects the intellectual and physical remoteness of the pandemic. The exhibition is comprised of six works titled Deep Like, Revenge Body, Eve of the Future, Infinite Kill, Madame Psychosis (Joelle Van Dyne), and Sphinx (the answer isn’t man), all of which reflect the camera’s relationship between exactness and abstraction. Schneider’s photographic process takes place entirely in the dark so as not to expose the paper to sunlight. She also cuts the paper based on feel rather than exact measurements and precision, allowing the paper to take on its own form that overwhelms accuracy.
Carrie Schneider, Infinite Kill, 2023. Unique chromogenic photograph made in camera 60 x 12,000 in. (152.4 x 3,048 cm) Installed 87 x 552 x 25 in. (221 x 1,402.1 x 63.5 cm)
Installation view, Carrie Schneider: Sphinx, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA March 11 2023 - September 2023
Deep Like (2020-2021) features 105 of Carrie’s photographs taken during the beginning of the pandemic. Because she was unable to leave her home due to quarantine restrictions, Schneider built a camera with a Rodenstock lens and brought the outside world in. Like the rest of us during that time, she used her cell phone as a source to connect with and find subjects on social media. The title is a reference to the phenomenon of the ever-present internet rabbit hole, and accidentally liking a post on someone’s social media post from long ago. During this process, we lose ourselves in someone else’s online persona, desiring more and more content. This mindless, almost frightening disassociation is a reality that we all face regardless of our personal awareness of it.
Carrie Schneider, Eve of the Future, 2023 Unique chromogenic photograph made in camera (three segments) 40 x 2,400 in (101.6 x 6,096 cm). Installed 121.5 x 121 x 54 in (308.6 x 307.3 x 137.2 cm)
Carrie Schneider, Choose Well, 2022 Unique chromogenic photograph made in camera 52 x 40 in. (132.1 x 101.6cm)
In Revenge Body and Eve of the Future, Schneider created the works using gigantic paper rolls that were 20 and 40 inches wide, respectively, and hundreds of feet long, producing large-scale images of film icons Romy Schneider (in Eve of the Future) and Sissy Spacek (in Revenge Body), the actress who portrayed Stephen King’s Carrie in 1976. In choosing these two actresses, Scheinder makes a playful nod at her own name while thoughtfully investigating the construction of one’s self. Chromogenic photographs made in-camera span the height of the gallery wall. In both works, the faces are repeatedly printed down the large pieces of paper, and Schneider manipulates the paper through various folds, creating dimension and wonder. In Revenge Body, the images of Sissy Spacek covered in blood during Carrie’s infamous prom scene provoke thoughts of reflection in Schenider’s exploration of the self.
Carrie Schneider, Eve of the Future, 2023 (detail). Unique chromogenic photograph made in camera (three segments) 40 x 2,400 in. (101.6 x 6,096 cm); installed 121.5 x 121 x 54 in. (308.6 x 307.3 x 137.2 cm) Installation view, Carrie Schneider: Sphinx, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA March 11 2023 - September 2023
The exhibition crescendos to a showing of Schneider’s 16mm film, Sphinx (the answer isn’t man), using 316 still images of Romy Schneider’s face in the 1975 romance film L’Important C’est d’Aimer. Sourcing the images from her phone and creating photographs, she reveals the process through moving images. Her hands and phone can be seen in the film documenting the process, thoughtfully divulging the thematic core of the exhibition – pushing the camera’s exactness to become a tool for abstract examination.
