Rob Carter
Rob Carter (born UK, 1976) currently lives and works in New York, USA.
He received a Diploma from the Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education (Cheltenham, UK) in 1995, a BFA from the University of Oxford (Oxford, UK) in 1998 and an MFA from Hunter College, City University of New York (New York, USA) in 2003.
Carter was recipient of Art in General’s New Commissions Program (New York, USA) in 2012, an Artists’ Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts (New York, USA) in 2010 and an Arts Omi International Artists Residency, Omi International Arts Center (Ghent, USA) in 2008.
He has been included in the 8th Busan International Video Festival (Busan, South Korea) in 2011, the Oslo Screen Festival (Oslo, Norway) in 2010 and the Pesaro Film Festival (Rome, Italy) in 2007.
Carter has had solo exhibitions at Art in General (New York, USA) in 2012, Galerie Stefan Röpke (Cologne, Germany) in 2012 and the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere (Rome, Italy) in 2008.
He has been included in group exhibitions at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (Hiroshima, Japan) in 2013, Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA) in 2010 and the Museum of Arts and Design (New York, USA) in 2009.
Carter’s work is included in the collections of Alison and Peter Klein (Nußdorf am Inn, Germany), Hugo and Carla Brown (The Hague, the Netherlands) and the West Collection (Oaks, USA).
“My visit to the Ebensee Nazi concentration camp in Austria in 2010 was not only highly disquieting but also left a lasting emotional imprint on my mind. Instantly moved by the place, I felt troubled for taking the few photographs I did. So instead, I turned my camera on the breathtaking landscape of the area, especially Lake Traunsee.
Ultimately it is impossible to comprehend the horror and atrocities that occurred at Ebensee between 1943 and 1945. I was mesmerized by the haunting beauty of the area, the peace and stillness. In shocking contrast, deep within the rock, the remnants of armament bunkers and tunnels remain and their silence barely contains the remembrance of the terrible noise.
Using time-lapse photography shot during my visit and stop-motion animation shot this year, the video is an attempt to describe the layered history that lies within the town and landscape of Ebensee. Separated from the disturbing images we have of the camp's liberation, this video uses the images of the contemporary visitor to re-animate the place and describe how the land has recovered its tranquility but not its innocence.”