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Figurative


Image of Photograph of My Mother

Photograph of My Mother
New Media

1996
66 x 12 x 7 in. (167.64 x 30.48 x 17.78 cm)

Jim Campbell (Chicago, Illinois, 1956 - )

Object Type: New Media
Medium and Support: Custom electronics, glass, plastic, and photograph
Credit Line: Museum purchase with funds contributed by the Collection Committee
Accession Number: 1998.12

Exhibition

Encode/Store/Retrieve, December 8, 2023 – April 21, 2024, Second Floor, Central and North Galleries, San José Museum of Art.

Post-Portrait,
October 9, 2014 – January 18, 2015, New Wing, First Floor, Gibson Family Gallery, San José Museum of Art.

Vital Signs: New Media from the Permanent Collection, June 12, 2010 - February 6, 2011, New Wing, Second Floor, South Gallery, San José Museum of Art.

Inside Out: Selections from the Permanent Collection, November 20, 2004 - July 9, 2006, New Wing, Second Floor, South Metro A and Central Skylight Galleries, San José Museum of Art.

Beyond Tradition: Permanent Collection Photographs, September 27, 2003 - August 22, 2004, Historic Wing, Paul L. Davies Gallery, Second Floor, San José Museum of Art.

Is the Medium the Message?: Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection, March 2, 2002 - June 2, 2002, New Wing, Metro A, Skylight and South Galleries, Second Floor, San José Museum of Art.

Jim Campbell: Time + Memory, January 24-March 4, 2001, Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond.

Something Happened, Apex Art Curatorial Program, New York, New York, November 15-December 20, 2000.

Into the 21st Century: Selections from the Permanent Collection, May 22 -September 12, 1999, Second floor, New Wing, San José Museum of Art.

Jim Campbell: Reactive Works, June 13 - September 6, 1998, Second Floor, Historic Wing, San José Museum of Art.

SJMA Label Text


Post-Portrait (2014-2015)

Memory is invisible and must be embodied in order to be physically represented. In Portrait of My Father (1994 – 95) and Photograph of My Mother (1996), Jim Campbell used the physiological functions of the human body to animate personal memories of his parents. Recorded over an eight-hour period, during sleep and awake, the artist's heart beats in sync with the disappearing and reappearing image of his father; similarly, the sound of the artist's breath, recorded over one hour, correlates with the fogging and clearing of the glass on his mother's portrait. Here, Campbell has suggested that his heartbeat and breath are "contained" in metal boxes attached by wires to the glass-enclosed photographs and that these boxes serve as the power source for the memories, much as a hard drive stores computer data.


Vital Signs: New Media from the Permanent Collection (2010-2011)

Campbell's series of "memory works," including Portrait of My Father (1994-95) and Photograph of My Mother (1996), is based on a common characteristic of both human and computer memory: it is invisible. In order to show memory, it needs to be interpreted and translated to another form. Each of the works has an aluminum box that contains an electronic record of an individual. These electronic "memories" are digitally manipulated and then used to transform an associated object, like these family photos, mounted on the wall. In these portraits of his mother and father, Campbell has forever linked himself with his parents. The artists recorded his own heartbeat and breathing over an 8-hour time period, while both asleep and awake. Synchronized with the artist's heartbeat, the image of Campbell's father flashes in and off. The images of Campbell's mother alternately fogs and clears with the rhythm of her son's breathing.


Inside Out: Selections from the Permanent Collection (2004-2006)

Jim Campbell's Portrait of My Father and Photograph of My Mother explore the idea of our interconnectivity with our parents. The artist digitally recorded his own heartbeat and breathing—while both asleep and awake—over an 8-hour time period. Pairing a close-up photograph of his father’s face with the repetitive beating of his own heart, Campbell causes the image of his father to flash on and off in time with his heartbeat. A photograph of his mother, sandwiched between two pieces of glass, fogs and clears in time with Campbell's recorded inhalations and exhalations.


Beyond Tradition: Permanent Collection Photographs (2003-2004)

In these portraits of his mother and father, Campbell has forever linked himself with his parents. The artist recorded his own heartbeat and breathing over an 8-hour time period, while both asleep and awake. Synchronized with the artist's heartbeat, the image of Campbell’s mother flashes on and off. The image of Campbell’s father alternately fogs and clears with the rhythm of his son’s breathing. These portraits are part of Campbell’s “memory works” series, which is based on the idea that memory—both human and computer—is invisible. In order to visually show memory, it needs to be interpreted and translated to another form, in this case the artist’s breath and heartbeat. Each of the works has an aluminum box that contains an electronic record of Campbell’s breathing or heartbeat that he digitally manipulated and then used to accompany and transform his parents’ photos.

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Exhibition List
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Dimensions
  • Installation Dimensions: 66 x 12 x 7 in. (167.64 x 30.48 x 17.78 cm)

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