Quantum Photography Season 3 Artist Interview: Caleb Charland
We sat down with Caleb Charland to learn more about his vision and what brought him to create his collection "Back to Light."
Caleb Charland's artworks combine scientific curiosity with a constructive approach to making pictures. He utilizes everyday objects and fundamental forces to illustrate experiences of wonder. Caleb Charland is represented by Sasha Wolf Projects.
Back to Light expands upon the potato battery, a classic grade school science project. By inserting a galvanized nail into one side of a potato and a copper wire in the other side, a small electrical current is generated. Caleb Charland uses a 4 x 5" view camera to create these scenes.
Many people fondly remember drawing power from potatoes or fruit in the classroom. This work speaks to the gift of human curiosity, and a concern for the future of earth’s energy sources. The cycle that begins with light from our nearest star that is photosynthesized by organic materials to produce energy is re-routed in these images, Back to Light, illuminating earth once again.
We sat down with Caleb Charland to learn more about his vision and what brought him to create his collection "Back to Light." You can now find this inspiring collection on Opensea.
Quantum
Who have been your biggest artistic influences, and why?
Caleb Charland
I grew up in the 90s and attended MassArt as an undergrad in 1999. I was exposed to several artists at that time whose work still resonates with me. Abelardo Morell was a faculty member and his work struck a chord with every student. His ability to find extraordinary possibilities in the every day and his mastery of craft inspired us all to seek a higher standard for our work.
Gary Schnieder visited class one day and shared his series “Heads”. His use of long exposures while lighting the subject with a handheld flashlight introduced a somewhat performative approach to making pictures. There were several shows in Boston around that time that were important to my development as an artist. Marco Breuer: Circa 1999 at the MIT’s List Visual Arts Center and Adam Fuss at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Both artists work without a camera and their investigations of photographic materials have inspired several bodies of work. This series Back to Light was highly influenced by Olivia Parker’s still lives and the scientific images of Bernice Abbott.
Quantum
What was the process of creating the artwork for this collection?
Caleb Charland
Back to Light, expands upon a classic grade school science project, the potato battery. By inserting a galvanized nail into one side of a potato and a copper wire in the other side a small electrical current is generated. The galvanized nail is coated with zinc, when you insert the nail into the electrolyte environment inside the potato the zinc gives off electrons which then get picked up by the copper wire. The electrolytes in the potato cause a chemical reaction to occur between the dissimilar metals. Once the current is flowing it’s just a matter of connecting enough potatoes in the series to get the voltage up to the right amount to illuminate the LED.
Quantum
Precisely what is it you want to say with this collection, and how do you get your artwork to say that?
Caleb Charland
My hope is that these photographs function as micro utopias by suggesting and illustrating the endless possibilities of alternative and sustainable energy production. The cycle that begins with the light of our closest star implanting organic materials with nutrients and energy, is re-routed in these images, Back to Light, illuminating earth once again.
Quantum
Is there a piece that embodies the overall collection and can you share the story behind it?
Caleb Charland
The outdoor installations required a lot of pre-production. Cutting wires and preparing the lamp takes a long time, there are usually about 30 LED lights wired to the inside of the lampshade. A pair of wires run from each LED and connect with a circuit of potatoes in the environment. When a dozen or so potatoes are wired in a series it will generate the 3.5 volts you need to power the LED. The potato power image specifically took two days of work to construct. I dug up all of the potatoes and wired them together and achieved the amount of voltage to illuminate the LED. My initial idea was to have the wires coming up out of the ground but when I buried the potatoes the voltage dropped way down likely due to grounding. I ended up leaving them in piles beside the lamp which turned out to be a happy accident in the final image. When the setup is all done I wait for night to fall before starting to expose the picture. I’ll have two or three cameras set up and the exposures will be set anywhere from four to eight hours long. The streaks of light in the sky are stars. As the earth rotates through the night the stars appear to move through the sky and trace themselves as arching lines above the earth.
Quantum
How did you first encounter NFTs and Cryptoart, and when did it click for you that there was a lot of potential here?
Caleb Charland
I first heard of NFTs and crypto on NPR years ago. Several stories have been reported over the years and though it all sounded intriguing I felt it was all something a bit beyond me. When I was introduced to Quantum by Sasha Wolf, my art dealer, it all seemed so possible. I’m very pleased to be taking part in this novel experience of digital art. The most important aspect to artists is being a part of all future transactions.
Charity components: The artist has agreed to donate 2.5% of primary sale revenue to a charity of their choice. Quantum will allocate 2.5% of primary sale revenue to carbon reduction initiatives.