Review by Evan Odom with Douglas Stockdale •
We were fortunate enough to receive a copy of Gytis Skudžinskas’ photobook Print of Truth/Truth of Print, which is an intriguing look into the mind of a multimedia artist who bridges photography and text-based art into one hybrid concept. Each part of this project is compelling on its own, and the overall construction of the book has been well considered, but the differing ideas throughout do not easily mesh into one cohesive body.
In the 1920’s, we were introduced to Alfred Stieglitz’s concept of “Equivalence”, creating photographs that were an expression “feeling” over literal subject matter. Stieglitz’s goal was to create an image that allowed the viewer to relive the exact emotional experience the photographer had when making the picture. Likewise, Skudžinskas, who is also a musician, with this book has created a visual equivalence to the abstract music of The Grateful Dead, Phish and more recently the very contemporary Canadian band, Angine de Poitrine. At first hearing, all three of these bands free flowing riffs are different and unfamiliar with a strange, yet wonderful, tempo that draws you in with the underlying melodies, rhythm and cadence. Like these band’s music, this photobook has an abstract visual quality that one does not often encounter.
The repetition and stacking of the photographs and text is similar to the musical looping by the guitarist of Angine de Poitrine, creating a complex visual ‘sound’, as the overlapping and layering creates an unusual visual effect as the text appears to fade away and then re-appear. The angular and occasionally filled-in (blackened) fonts reminds one of a stucco visual “beat” similar to the one performed by the Angine de Poitrine band’s drummer.
Similar to his use of text and Stieglitz’s Equivalence, his polaroid photographs are abstractions of his urban environment, hinting at something with the colors and truncated subjects that really appear to be detached from a specific thing or place. These images become metaphors for something else for the viewer to contemplate and are poetic in nature. In a sense these images become the lyrics that appear to provide the lead over the background (graphics) tempo for his (musical) artistic treatise. Overall, his photobook has a very abstract musical vibe to it.
The writings placed along with images seem disconnected and separate; where freely placed images flow between each other and passages and phrases. These combinations build upon each other but never resolve into anything. The images and text run parallel to each other, but rarely intersect in theme and tone. The result is a book which feels intentionally fragmented, leading the reader to fully examine each page to infer their meaning of the entire dialog being created.
This project appears to be a combination of concepts Skudžinskas has previously explored, notably his sketchbooks and pinhole photography, and is presented with a design pattern akin to pasting polaroids into a personal sketchbook of ideas. Print of Truth/Truth of Print serves as a collection of thoughts and ideas, more than one individual narrative, and makes for a unique insight into Skudžinskas’ artistic thinking and process.
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Gytis Skudžinskas had been featured previously on PhotoBook Journal; Albumas (2014) and Tyla – Silence (2011).
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Print of Truth/Truth of Print – Gytis Skudžinskas
Artist: Gytis Skudžinskas, living and working in Vilnius, Lithuania
Publisher: VsI Nerutina, Lithuania, copyright December 2024
Essays: Adam Mazur, Gytis Skudžinskas
Text: English
Book description, hardcover, Smyth bound (lay-flat), printed by UAB BALTO print, ISBN: 978-609-8216-16-5
Designer: Gytis Skudžinskas
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Articles and photographs published in the PhotoBook Journal may not be reproduced without the permission of the PhotoBook Journal staff and the photographer(s). All images, texts, and designs are copyright of the authors and publishers.
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