#jake leech

Jake Leech - Brightest Night to Memory

Already Dead Tapes

As artists, when we talk about what is required of us to make art worth purchasing, we rarely question what seems to be “normal”. What we do question is, our worth as artists and as artists who have something worth selling. What we don’t realize is that we are encountering the collective solidarity of the wealthy and capital itself to say what should be considered “normal”. In that, we should always experience art in very controlled environments, that art objects are precious and this is not by accident. And what’s worse, this mentality at some point affects the art its self, it abides by that code. There’s far more that Brad Troemel knows than I do about this subject, and instead of explaining, just watch his stuff.

Anyway, “Work Prints”, which was my first photo show ever, happened on Saturday, February 1st, 2020 at East and West in St. Louis, MO. Had I known it would be the last time I would be in a gallery-adjacent setting, I think I would have taken more photos of my own event lol.

The photos were all taken on 35mm film (primarily Kodak Portra 400) using a Pentax K1000 and a Canon ELAN 7NE. They were shot over the course of the first year and a half that I took photography “seriously” (which is to say, since summer 2018). This collection was chosen for their use of space, material and color. I hope for the viewer to see their own connections amongst the pieces.

The title, “Work Prints”, comes from the lowest tier print service a Chicago-based print shop offered. While I didn’t end up using said services, I felt the title was exactly what I intended with the pieces: photo prints & frames were readymades, easy to access, just enough to meet the need. I wanted to try my hand at alternative frames (mostly because I don’t know how to properly set a photo, nor the means to do so), so I scoured the internet and landed at the now-canceled ULINE. The “Vinyl Tag Protectors” were just right to suspend the pieces, adding a clear border around the images, w/ the yellow color code to draw just enough attention that this is in fact, not a frame. (I’ve stared at the pieces long enough to forget what’s happening to it, and I hope you will too.) The intent is to be approachable. Beyond it being inexpensive, it is not precious. Bend it, cram it in a backpack, pour beer on it, the art will stay unharmed. And if the print inside moves around? Shove your hand in there and make it right again. Use this as a moment to unlearn what we’ve been told about art and the art you own. Call it a “performance”, I don’t care. It’s yours.