Interview: Matthew Kern.

When I first came across the work of Matthew Kern, I was initially struck by the sheer scale, of the Polaroids when assemblemd into collages, as well as the degree of physical labour that goes into creating many of the pieces. A labour that, while testifying to the physicality of the medium, also seems to circumvent it by the inclusion of many additional elements (painting, etching, for example), an issue raised in the interview. I also found many of the titles enigmatic, akin to snippets of poetry. Also touched on is the end of Polaroid production and the nature of reproduction/s. So it is with great pleasure and many thanks to Matthew for taking the time, that I present the following interview.

We Slowly walked. Polaroid Type 600 BW/Mixed Media on Canvas. 2009.

You mention the ‘nearly extinct Polaroid Sx-70 Camera’. Knowing that the film is becoming difficult to source, how does this impact on your work? Have you stock-piled packets of film?

Well, if your asking if I am worried that I will run out of Polaroid someday the answer is no. I do have a cache of unexposed film that will last me some years, 3 or 4 or 5, and the pieces of art take time to work out. Not to mention all of the images that I have shot over the years, starting in the early 90’s, in archive. I will keep shooting and making these pieces until it is gone without hesitation. If I say to myself “Oh no, this is the last Polaroid I will ever shoot” and hesitate, it will just ruin it. So onward, forward. Now, I am also curious to see where I go from there. Yes, this has been my medium for a while, but I am an artist that was trained as a photographer. The possibilities of direction to move toward are endless and this is an exciting idea to me. I love travel photography. I have also been painting and doing some video shorts so………

So the eventual end of Polaroid will be a new beginning, a new challenge?

For me, sure. Or a continuation of what I have been doing somehow, but without the Polaroid medium. Especially the way the pieces have been going lately, very painterly. The idea of this is exciting to me, to see what happens next. I will have to wait and see………

What do you think the last Polaroid you ever shoot will be, and what will you do with it (I have always thought about keeping my last Polaroid in the camera...)?

I really have no idea. I do have this idea though that I will just be shooting and shooting at some great location and all of a sudden it will be over. I am not interested in the build up of shooting my last images with Polaroid. It goes back to that hesitation thing.

You mention in your statement, “I peel the Polaroid film from it’s encasement and alter the images through a variety of applications. I etch into the emulsion. Using charcoal, pencil, ink transfers, markers, paint and a number of other mediums, I alter the image front and back.” Such a processes engage with the Polaroid in a very physical way, almost as if the Polaroid is a canvas rather than the location of an image. How important is the physicality of the Polaroid – in distinction to other photographic means - important?

I use the emulsion in so many ways that it becomes a medium unto itself. The experiment process and discoveries that I have been able to explore over the years has become a great way to see what is possible with it. Burning India ink from the canvas into the emulsion. Etching to create subtle but distinct imagery that plays with the photographic imagery. Staining. Even in a piece like We Slowly Walked chips and etchings are painted, other wise it would just look white on the canvas. There are many subtle techniques that I have been able to develop because the emulsion is malleable.

It appears that you are pushing the medium, what it can do, as far as possible.

Pushing the medium for sure, but not for the sake of pushing it. Gathering information about what I can and cannot do helps the ideas, and the beauty, of the work. Toying around has lead to having options to add, or not, to the paintings. It didn’t happen fast. It took time to develop and there is still, I am sure, plenty of things to be discovered. This keeps my work from becoming stale in my eyes. It keeps the work fresh.

Your statement indicates the possibility that the taking of the actual photographic image is secondary to the work that comes afterwards. Would you say this is true?

No. There is not one part of the imagery, photographic or painterly, that dominates in the process. They are equal and become a “sea saw” of balance in composition. Especially when I am working on them. It is a challenge to pre-visualize the way it will turn out. This is for me and a lot of fun. The way a viewer sees it, photographically dominated lets say, is up to them and how they view it. That is part of the beauty for me in making this work: all of the elements that can show or fall into the background.

Is the work planned out in advance or is the process more organic?

I work both ways. With A One Way Conversation About the Shootout at Memory Park I was traveling and shooting all of this film and had a very clear understanding of what I wanted to do with the imagery. I am still working on these pieces. It is because I have been utilizing the experimentation. In my earlier work I still had not learned much about what was possible in the manipulation. As it built up, I have been able to refine the pieces and express the ideas with more clarity.

A One Way Conversation About the Shootout at Memory Park. Polaroid Type Sx-70/Mixed Media on Canvas 17.5x21 Inches. 2008.

Are there any artists using Polaroid whose work you admire?

Yes. Robert Frank. Peter Beard. Chuck Close. Timothy Greenfield Sanders. Drew Baker. Brian Henry. Todd Brilliant. Just to name a few.

I know of Robert Frank, Chuck Close and Todd Brilliant (and looked the others up). You mention Robert Frank – I went an exhibition of his work at Tate Modern which I was very excited about, especially the Polaroid work. However, as the Polaroids turned out to be prints derived from the Polaroids rather than the actual Polaroids, I came away somewhat disappointed. In relation to this, how do you see the relationship between your limited edition prints and the actual Polaroid work?

There was a gallery in New Orleans, in the French Quarter, probably the best photographic gallery I have ever seen. This was before the big hurricane so I am not sure it still exists. They had some work of Franks there. He had actually pasted the negatives onto some of the work and it was incredible. Pasted hastily onto prints and smeared with god knows what. The imagery was incredible. As it turns out, it was a rare showing as he doesn’t really show his later work much. Except in books.

I don’t mind prints. When me and a friend of mine were travelling in Cuba, I brought a 195 Land Camera and a bunch of 665 Black and White instant negative. It was a pain in the rump to work with because you have to put the negative in water which means I had to carry a container with water in it. Not the fastest way to work but the prints I was able to make from them are beautiful. Timeless~

I started doing limited edition prints by request. Some folks had contacted me and wanted the opportunity to have some of the imagery before I go to work on it. For me it reiterates where I came from and how I learned and where I am today: photography based.

Matthew Kern's work can be viewed - and at a much larger scale - at: http://matthewkern.com/.