Reaching Out | Lauren Crazybull

A response to Matthew Cardinal’s Untitled Series.

Matthew Cardinal woke up one day and decided to take photographs of people’s arms.

“It was my roommate. Or my roommate's brother...” Matthew recalls while we talk on the phone. It’s March 29th, just over a year since we’ve been in a worldwide pandemic locking down on and off. We’re talking about Matthew's accumulative art project where he takes photographs of people’s arms using instax fujifilm polaroids. There’s something exciting about taking a polaroid, it’s often the only copy of the photo, and that makes it special in a way. He says: “If I had a digital camera I wouldn't be doing it. You get a physical photograph. I have a stack of these photos now. It wouldn’t be interesting to me if it was photos on a hard drive.”

He doesn’t seem to have a clear directive or goal. “It’s about making a decision and sticking with it - arbitrary or not.” I think about Matthew’s solo music and the improvisational aspect of it. I’m always wondering where the line between planning and improvisation is with musicians. Matthew tells me that it’s part trusting his gut and intuition and I’m reminded of William Eggleston’s approach to photography.

Hesitation delays or even stops a lot of art from being made. I imagine there have been endless hours of artists in history waiting for the right moment, or hesitating because they don’t know the end goal. Similar to Eggleston, Matthew’s approach is to start with something he finds interesting, and figure out the rest along the way. 

Something I’ve recently learned is that art can be more exciting if you slow down and realise the process is just as important as the finished product. If there’s something the pandemic has taught me, it’s to slow down and enjoy that process.

Not every photo or piece of art has a “meaning” going in. The viewer can assign the meaning as they see fit.

This project began when Matthew asked to take a photograph of somebody’s arm. From there he was able to have a unique moment with each of the 50 (and counting) people involved who are all “friends, artists, recording engineers, musicians, photographers, writers, business owners” or as he describes them: “people I respect and admire”. With this project, Mathew makes me wonder how many people can be connected through a photograph.

I think about the social aspect of art projects. As we enter year two of the global pandemic, we are constantly forced to reconsider connection points and how to nurture relationships in our lives. When I look at these photographs of arms, I think of people quite literally reaching out and connecting.

1. “William Eggleston.” Artnet, www.artnet.com/artists/william-eggleston.