Piece description from the artist
This development of this body of work has been a slow process, like life. Co-mingling photography and image making with everyday progress and activity creates a situation where the work evolves organically and in a sporadic but steady manner. Suburban started with a few seed images. My intention was to make imagery that was iconic and universal (bordering on generic) but still provide something enjoyable for the viewer. It's possible in the right audience that each image will hold a personal relevance with the viewer. Amongst my suburban 'peers' (i.e. neighbors.) these images might remotely resemble familiar spaces due to their own intersections with the author of the imagery, or they may similarly view the images as familiar due to shared suburban viewpoint. My intention is to use my own space (property) to create a series of images that convey a loosely defined narrative. Aesthetically and thematically the images will carry some stylistic similarities, but they should first exist individually as a composition that depicts a significant suburban activity or situation. The depicted scenes might be common practices that in some sense could be considered ritual.
I was primarily inspired to carry out this work due to my reluctance to accept the location as my own. Being a homeowner is not a title held without responsibilities. Personal pride in one's home and an overall respect for one's neighbors places certain activities in the front of a to do list for most home owners. The sense of pride and accomplishment one feels upon completing certain tasks and routines produces positive connections to one's own space and to those who live in close proximity.
A well maintained home is a sign of a harmonious household. However, the time needed to actually keep up appearances can make home ownership feel like a Sisyphean effort. Never the less every weekend we carve out time to groom and improve our back lots and facades, keeping our unsaid promises to those who live around us. Because you only get to make such a choice once and once you throw down roots it's not easy to transplant. Not in this economy.
These images use the yard and home as the stage for a tableau of the ordinary.
Tyler Robbins' life is not uncommon, and that’s exactly where he positions his art practice and aesthetic.
Becoming suburban was not his long-term goal, but it might be a part of a bigger plan. Since Tyler was born into his role as a middle-american suburbanite, you might imagine that finding locations for his photos was the easy part. He works with what’s available; though it may seem boring, it’s easy to get lost in the familiarity. Seeing something new in a new place is easy, but finding something profound in well-worn routines is not, and that’s precisely what makes Tyler’s work so interesting.Tyler and his art hail from Sun Prairie, WI. It’s a small city with a population just shy of thirty thousand and Tyler lives smack dab in the middle of one of its beige subdivisions. When he's not working at his job or spending time with his family, he's busy contemplating new scenes of visual intrigue right in his very own backyard.
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