Chris Carr
by Adrienne H . Lee
Reflections of the Surreal in the Mundane
There is a reason why terms like “ corporate drone ” and “ cog in the machine ” exist . They are the result of the mundane routine of everyday life that can sometimes be too much to bear . Add to that the hopeless feeling of working for nameless billionaires who run massive corporations , bent on squeezing as much work as they can out of their employees for as little compensation as possible . For some , the future looks bleak ; for others , the present is bleaker . art is happening . Sometimes that art is the result of simply looking down instead of mindlessly staring ahead , steadily shuffl ing toward nothingness .
When a person looks down , he or she is forced to acknowledge that their feet are carrying them in a certain direction . In the stillness of stopping to consider this implication , one is undoubtedly struck with
Blue & Pink Fall Sunset , photograph
What is waiting at the fi nish line of this corporate rat race ? Is it a race toward a non-existent reward or away from a hideous end ? Humans have relinquished control and are governed by schedules and deadlines . Freedom is absent when shackled to calendars and appointment books . Of course , this is considered normal , adult activity . It is the life of an accountable grown-up with grown-up responsibilities and grownup self-loathing . It is as if humankind knows the rat race is a façade and a sham , but has succumbed to the monotony anyway .
This must be why creatives stand out and are so often rejected by the masses . Creative individuals like artists , photographers , writers , actors , musicians and the like tend to see life from a different perspective . That perspective is not always dramatic , but it is often just different enough to make others take notice . When the cog no longer turns smoothly with the others in the machine , it is a clear sign that
Orlando Arts & Culture , v . 2.3 the question all humans dread , “ Am I going in the right direction ?” This question can be so frightening that some just surrender and laugh off the soul-killing routine of adult responsibility . To acknowledge that one is quite possibly going in the wrong direction in life can be enough to keep the wheels and cogs turning , forever distracted , forever racing towards a fi nish line at the edge of a cliff .
Chris Carr is one of those creative individuals who no longer turns smoothly with the other cogs . He is an artist determined to free humans from the race , and does so by compelling each person who views his work to look down , stop , and reconsider the direction of his or her life . Carr photographs the clues that help answer that ominous question , “ Am I going in the right direction ?” The images he captures plead with the viewer to stop racing and come to a complete stop before something beautiful and wonderful and magical is missed .
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