Circus horses, elephants and zebras in a foggy arena: Rob Tarbell’s smoke-filled photo paintings

The author of circus-themed photo-films Rob Tarbell is a trainer of sorts himself. But unlike people who tame wild animals, Rob Tarbell deals with an even more wayward charge – smoke. The latter does not happen without fire, which is very difficult to subdue. This is why flammable photo pictures are created in a completely isolated room. With fire, jokes are bad, but a serious attitude to this element promises artistic discoveries.

Circus horses, elephants and zebras in the smoke, slightly blurred outlines of artists who spent their entire lives under the dome of the circus… In fact, the basis of each photo picture by Rob Tarbell is a collage. For example, a rider who deftly balances on the back of a horse is not a circus performer, but the author’s wife, who is engaged in yoga. But in the fog and smoke, you can’t tell the difference between fiction and truth. By the way, where is the smoke from?

Rob Tarbell pins photo collages to the ceiling of a specially equipped room and starts burning all the junk: from old photos to plastic cards. The work requires precision and accuracy: one wrong move – and the process of fumigation has to start over. The author of the smoke-filled photo art started to immerse collages in the fog about 4 years ago, and now he is the Lord of the smoke rings.