Gallery 4
An Introduction to Liminal Aesthetics
Ali McCann

Ali McCann’s An Introduction to Liminal Aesthetics explores the liminal phases of artistic pedagogy and art production. The works examines the aesthetic disorientation an artist experiences during this learning process – a disorientation that creates an environment for errors, unintentional transformations and new interpretations. The backdrop in these works originates from a collection of “failed attempts”: a collection of photo-sensitive paper that McCann salvaged from a darkroom bin at a photographic college where she once taught. The abstract silver gelatin prints, creased and torn- marked by light-exposure and chemicals, show evidence of her students’ darkroom errors and unsuccessful experiments. These “failed attempts” now become backdrops for still-life arrangements of obsolete teaching aids and found objects.

All images courtesy Vivian Cooper Smith