Gallery Talk: Image of Structure with Joshua Sariñana

Artist Statement
The Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a monumental building, saturated with colors, that juts out in every direction. By capturing the structure in monochrome, I deconstructed this architectural work, flattened it, and transformed it into a graphical form. My aim is to pull the viewer into a surreal, disembodied space, without completely breaking from rational observation. This work was born out of a radical shift in my perception and emotion as I conducted my neuroscientific research at the Institute, where I had a direct view of the Stata Center.

As a researcher, I entered the laboratory to create theories about consciousness and to pursue truth through reasoning and scientific evidence. The longer I was at MIT, the more I came to understand the overwhelming, and unattainable, expectation to solve impossible problems and create knowledge that bends the historical arc of science. I witnessed ways that people – friends and colleagues – engaged in self-destructive behavior because of this pressure. As I honed my research skills, I grew disquieted as the secure sense of belief in rational thought and empirical evidence began to unravel. Like many others, I was left dysregulated, fragmented, and without a sense of direction. I intend for these images to represent this dis-ease.

Bio
Joshua Sariñana, PhD, took an interest in photography as his passion in the brain and mind started to develop. As he studied neuroscience at UCLA, MIT and Harvard, Sariñana began to switch his focus to the practice and theoretical study of photography.

He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Panopticon Gallery, Aperture Gallery and has shown at the Month of Photography Los Angeles, and Photoville.
Sariñana is a two-time Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist. His work has been recognized by the Sony World Photography Awards, American Photography, and LensCulture. Sariñana has published his photography in several periodicals, including PDN, Black & White, Silvershotz, and SHOTS Magazines and has been featured on Time, CNN, and an iPhone commercial. He twice received the Council for the Arts Grant at MIT.

He has published several articles on the intersection of photography and neuroscience for PetaPixel, Don’t Take Pictures, and The Smart View. He has also given talks on neuroscience and photography at Trinity College, Dublin, Northeastern University, Flashpoint Boston, and the Griffin Museum of Photography. Sariñana currently resides in Cambridge, MA.