Untitled #9, by Kent Rogowski

Frenzied Wednesday greetings, collectors! I'm sitting in the gallery typing away as the crew puts the finishing touches on Love = Love, an exhibition of large scale photographs and puzzle montages by Kent Rogowski.

Today's edition, Untitled #9, is photographic print based on a unique puzzle montage that is being hung in the gallery right this very second. An edition of 3 exhibition-sized (44"x57") prints are available as well. Back in my days of Disney toil, we'd call this synergy. I gotta say though: synergy then was never so much fun as all this.

I have two major thinky obsessions related to photography, the relationship between photographer and subject in portraiture is the first; the second is the consideration of a photograph as an object rather than as a document. (The latter topic has become especially fascinating since I started doing 20x200.)

Kent's project really pushes the topic of object vs. document. He's taking objects made from photographs, deconstructing them, reassembling them, documenting those reassembled objects and then to top it all off, these documents become different objects entirely when you present them at different sizes. Which is what the exhibition is all about.

Doing a 20x200 edition is the meta-est manifestation of the concept; the effect of the grid-like fault lines of the puzzles varies enormously depending on the dimensions of the print. Their presence is most obvious at its smallest and largest sizes, but in totally different ways.

As I say in the exhibition's press release, I fell in love with Love = Love immediately. I have a practically Pavlovian response to the bright and shiny, so they had me at hello. Throw in nostalgia (puzzle making seems awfully old-fashioned in these days of Wii) and the thinky parts, and I was goner than gone. Ask anyone who knows me — I have basically not shut up about the damn things since I finally saw them in person at Fotofest in March.

Bert Teunissen and I had a long discussion about all of this on Monday evening, over wings and margaritas at Great Jones Cafe. (First class treatment for my international friends: always guaranteed.) He himself is the king of the photograph as a document, so the conversation was particularly intriguing. I can't wait to hear what he thinks when he sees Kent's photos at the opening tonight.*

I'd love to know what you think too - I hope to see a good showing of 20x200 collectors at tonight's reception. The gallery's located at 6 Spring St, just off the Bowery, festivities commence at 6. As an aside, you can stay up to date on gallery happenings by signing up for our mailing list.

I'm off to attend to the last details of the day. See you later, ok? OK!

*Confidential to Bert: You are so totally on the hook to show up now, just like you promised.