Ben Altman

The More That Is Taken Away These sequenced photographs show the excavation of a single area, about 60' by 10' (19m x 3m). The work takes place in a disused field at the rear of my home in upstate New York. I am drawn to the violent turning-points of modern history, not only as human tragedies but as integral to our present time. The More That Is Taken Away is a multi-year meditation on genocide, in three Acts. For Act I, I cleared the area and marked the 60’ x 10’ outline. Within this rectangle I cut and formed trenches, ramps, and steps, using hand tools. I worked unaided in all kinds of weather. The shapes evolved by subtraction, becoming a kind of memorial sculpture. Next I removed the internal forms, leaving a mass-grave-like pit almost 5’ deep and visible on Google Earth. I built a watchtower from salvaged lumber and also lost weight to the minimum recommended for my height. During the subsequent two years I repaired winter damage and worked on shaping. I photograph the stages, changes, and decay of the site with an 8x10 camera. The actions are recorded on video. To begin the second Act I shaved off my long hair, then photographed myself repeatedly in the pit. I added video of arriving and undressing, repeated many times. In the third Act I will bury prints of the self-portraits and landscape the site. This “earthwork" series of photographs and the "performance" series (not shown) each stand by themselves. They will also be part of a large installation, with the photographs and the whole video record - in long loops on maybe 30 displays with soundtracks forming an aural texture - and perhaps hand-made books. Although only collateral members of my father's family died in the Holocaust, for me histories of atrocity underlie our contemporary world. In this and other work I question the present by responding to our intractable past. Rather than an immobilized gesture and the moral certitude common with memorials, the project encourages an open engagement.