Stan Douglas Conjures Histories That Might Have Been

"ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, New York - AI-generated images, videos, and audio recordings made with the intent to deceive are now a fact of online content consumption. And they are particularly prevalent in the arena of politics. Lying in order to gain or hold power is nothing new, but the contemporary proliferation of deep fakes makes the ability to read an image more important than ever. Stan Douglas: Ghostlight, now on view at Bard College's Hessel Museum of Art, is a master class on the subject, as well as an engrossing exploration of historical moments of political change and possibility."

"Viewers first encounter the wall-spanning photo that gives the show its name, depicting the darkened interior of the Los Angeles Theatre, an ornate 1930s movie palace. The title references the longstanding tradition in theaters of leaving a bare light on at centerstage - a gesture with origins in both safety and superstition. Opening with this photograph evokes the specter of a century of rapt audiences, mesmerized by the manufactured histories flickering before them, the hero ever-shifting based on who is telling the tale and how."

AI-generated images, videos, and audio recordings created to deceive are widespread online and especially prevalent in politics, complicating public perception. Ghostlight at the Hessel Museum presents a forty-year survey of Stan Douglas's photos, videos, and films that reconstruct historical moments and imagine alternative possibilities. The work pairs meticulous craft with improvisational potential and relies on staged reenactment and Brechtian devices to signal artifice. The exhibition centers on a wall-spanning photograph of the Los Angeles Theatre and series that replicate midcentury photographic styles, prompting viewers to read images critically amid proliferating deepfakes.

Read at Hyperallergic