"In conjunction with the publication of this artist book, The Momentary and Aperture will copresent an exhibition of related photography and video by Kristine Potter in Bentonville, Arkansas"--Colophon. Includes the short story "Blood Harmony" by Rebecca Bengal. Discography: page 122.
Summary:
Dark Waters, Kristine Potter's second monograph, continues her engagement with the American landscape as a palimpsest for cultural ideologies. Potter reflects on the Southern Gothic landscape as evoked in the popular imagination of "murder ballads" from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her black-and-white images channel the setting and characters of these songs, capturing the landscape of the American South and creating a series of portraits that stand in for the oft-unnamed women at the center of their stories In the American murder ballad. Places like Murder Creek, Bloody Fork, and Deadman's Pond are haunted by both the victim and perpetrator of violence in the world Potter conjures, reflecting the casual and popular glamorization of violence against women that remains prevalent in today's cultural landscape. As Potter notes, "I see a through line of violent exhibitionism from those early murder ballads, to the Wild West shows, to the contemporary landscape of cinema and television. Culturally, we seem to require it." Author Rebecca Bengal contributes a short story that underscores the sense of anxiety and foreboding that Potter infuses into each of her images.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.