Cara Barer

*New Work

Air
Blue Oval
Cotton Candy Landscape
Fires
Green Earth, New Sky
The Aether
Water

2014

Blue Rose
Apollo
Cosmic
Fuchsia
Mighty
Shavasana
Star Burst
Wildflowers
Dahlia
Empress

2015

Nightshade
Kingdom
Burgundy
Paris
713
Harajuku
Americas
Kingdom
Iditarod Trail
All the Names

2017

Webster’s
Treble
Santa Fe Winter
Relic
Perpeptual
Namaste
Literati
Kashmir
Filigree
Dreamscape

2018

After the Flood (Hurricane Harvey)
Coloring Book #2
Palimpest
Buddah
Coloring Book 1
English Arabic Dictionary
Faultless Prescriptions
Pink Japanese
Metaphorical
Skeleton Coast

2019

Vintage
Dawn and Dusk
Spring
Winter
White Iris
Oxford
Desert Sky

2020-2021: New Work

Spring
Desert Sky
Dusk and Dawn
Oxford
Blue News
Good News
New Thesaurus
Scrapbook
Rapture
Dazed

2021

Chartreuse 2
Chartreuse
History
How to Do Almost Everything
Orange
Ozone
Pink
Super Lovers
Victorian Pulp
Violet

Books

Heart
Shooter’s Bible
Traveler
Dictionary (aka P-Z 72)
Lilac
P-Z 72 (aka Dictionary)
Metropolis
Oh!
True Fiction
True Fiction

Maps

Explorer
Journey to Zaragosa
Pathfinder
Road to Robinhood Bay
Stargazer
Wilderness
Still Life #2
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My photographs are primarily a documentation of a physical evolution. I have changed a common object into sculpture in a state of flux. The way we choose to research and find information is also in an evolution. I hope to raise questions about these changes, the ephemeral and fragile nature in which we now obtain knowledge, and the future of books.

I arrive at some of my images by chance. Others, through experimentation. Without these two elements, my work would not flow easily from one idea to the next. A random encounter on Drew Street with the Houston Yellow Pages was the primary inspiration for this project. After that chance meeting, I began the search for more books, and more methods to change their appearance.
I realized I owned many books that were no longer of use to me, or for that matter, anyone else. Would I ever need “Windows 95?” After soaking it in the bathtub for a few hours, it had a new shape and purpose. Half Price Books became a regular haunt, and an abandoned house gave me a set of outdated reference books, complete with mold and neglect. Each book tells me how to begin according to its size, type of paper, and sometimes contents.

As I begin the process, I first consider the contents of each volume. I didn’t spend more than a few seconds on “Windows 95,” but the “New Century Dictionary of the English Language,” is a treasure that, because of its fascinating illustrations, and archaic examples, saved it from taking on a new form. Sculpting segued to thoughts on obsolescence and the relevance of libraries in this century.

Half a century ago, students researched at home with the family set of encyclopedias, or took a trip to the library to find needed information. Now, owning a computer, and connecting to the internet gives a student the ability to complete a research paper without ever going near a library. I have fully embraced that technology, and would not want to be without it, but, I also fear that it is rapidly leading us to rely less and less on the reference books common in the last two centuries.

With the discarded books that I have acquired, I am attempting to blur the line between objects, sculpture, and photography. This project has become a journey that continues to evolve.

A final note – No important books have been injured during the making of any of these photographs.