Hibernaculum
Friday, June19th, 2009
Untitled, Minneapolis, 2009 © Chris Smiar
Colleague and photographer Colleen Mullins has turned me on to the work of photographer Chris Smiar. His series Hibernaculum is particularly engaging to me (or anyone that has to live in the public/private nether region of downtown Minneapolis). Hibernaculum, meaning a place chosen by an animal for shelter during winter hibernation is a concept captured elegantly in Smiar’s photographs. I am particularly drawn to the accurate representation of the strange intersection of public and private space that occurs in the MPLS skyway system.
Untitled, St. Paul, 2009 © Chris Smiar
Working in downtown Minneapolis is never particularly joyous. During the winter one rarely encounters another human being outdoors… and during the summer, when the sidewalks are passable, one still must look up to see the office drones passing above you in air-conditioned tubes. What I find most gripping about these photographs are the tiny traces of human presence he captures like smudges on what should be precisely maintained glass…
Anyway. The work is excellent and I highly recommend checking the other projects on his site.