ALEXANDER HAHN

electronic media artist

Plein-air ::  Spectacle of Public and Private Joy and Calamity


Transitory Glance

Date: 05 17 2021

Medium: color pigment ink on polypropylene

Dimensions: 36  x 22.5 inch.  

Edition: 7 + 2AP     


Covert video still of a chance encounter at Oberkempten bus stop. From the series «Plein-air :: Spectacle of Public and Private Joy and Calamity»


Description, based on an AI image analysis by ChatGPT:

«The black-and-white still from a covert video captures a woman standing at a modern bus stop, holding a wrapped package. The scene evokes a contemporary yet timeless feel, reminiscent of classic street photography. The woman might be on her way to a party, bringing along some food, perhaps baked goods. Her gaze, directed towards the camera, unaware she is being captured, enhancing the candid nature of the moment. This unawareness invites viewers to ponder the hidden stories and mysteries of those we pass by every day and ask the question whether a stranger can be 'read.’»

Plein-air ::  Spectacle of Public and Private Joy and Calamity


Sara D. Roosevelt Park - Plein-air  

Date: 07 04 2020

Medium: color pigment ink on polypropylene

Dimensions: 36  x 22.5 inch.  

Edition: 7 + 2AP     


Man standing near a puddle in the synthetic turf soccer field. He is part of a group of artists, many dressed in historic costume to celebrate Independence Day.  They convene regularly in the Park for classes of life figure drawing, strangely oblivious of the other visitors, teens, athletes, local families as well as homeless and drug users.


All the prints in this series are made during the COVID-19 pandemic in NYC, most of them records of chance encounters on my short daily walk to the studio in Chinatown..

I printed on Polypropylene despite the manufacturer's alert that the material was NOT inkjet printable. The ink isn't absorbed and stays wet for a long time. Chromatographic seepage blurs the digital sharp-edge, the imprecision and randomness reflecting our uncertain times.    


Plein-air ::  Spectacle of Public and Private Joy & Calamity


Round Two  

Date: 06 30 2020

Medium: b/w pigment ink on polypropylene

Dimensions: 36  x 22.5 inch.  

Edition: 7 + 2 AP



Young man by the curbside, sitting in a trashed chair, waiting for Round Two to open, a boutique "selling/trading unique t-shirts with character or a memory from the past." 

Plein-air ::  Spectacle of Public and Private Joy & Calamity


Woman with a Shopping Cart  

Date: 09 11 2020

Medium: b/w pigment ink on polypropylene

Dimensions: 36  x 22.5 inch.  

Edition: 7 + 2 AP



At first glance, a woman fixing her sandal, but the shopping cart on the sidewalk, in these times, speaks a different story - homelessness.  

Plein-air ::  Spectacle of Public and Private Joy & Calamity


Specter of Homelessness  

Date: 09 11 2020

Medium: b/w pigment ink on polypropylene

Dimensions: 36  x 22.5 inch.  

Edition: 7 + 2 AP



Fortuitous computer generated merger of two  covert video stills, embodies the drama of the sorry existence of our society's castaways. 

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the homeless population has surged in my neighborhood. On my way to work, I walk past their growing encampments. I see images that should not be but they are. And they are deeply engraved into my memory of the present.