Mayte Breed
CV
Installation, photography, videography and bookmaking
I See a Melting Window captures human interaction with their environment through the photographic medium. Photographs and moving images are combined into a dialogue. With a background in biology, I precisely examine my surroundings. Small encounters become part of a larger ecosystem of images, allowing an interplay of associations to form. Flattened into two dimensions, I analyse the relationship between humans and their environment, invisible biological processes, and the element of time. Delicate forms are reproduced, reinterpreted, and reconsidered, like the cracks in a butterfly’s wings or melting star-shaped ice cubes in a glass. Each image becomes a window into a new reality. In a universe of daydreams and routines, built upon fast-paced efficiency, I attentively watch slices of life unfold.
The installation is an essential part of the work. By employing techniques such as enlarging, zooming in, and framing within the photographic body of work, I extend this defamiliarization approach to the presentation. The wall acts as a classical passe-partout, typically used as a protective framing style for images. It focuses the viewer’s attention on specific points while creating the illusion of the images continuing behind the wall. Due to its size, it also resembles multiple windows. In total, 10 images and 1 video work are placed within the wall, forming a new ecosystem. The images interact, creating new associations and dialogues. The installation consists of 7 wooden MDF panels with rectangles cut at a 45-degree angle, just like a passe-partout.
The installation carries the videowork Wait and See, 2022-2024. The video has a duration of 4’ 32” and plays in a continues loop. Custom USB boxes that store the digital file were crafted by Boox Space. The boxes are covered and lined with Lavender Toile du Marais, with the title embossed blind on the front, and a tipped-in authenticity certificate. Send me a message to receive a link for the video.