Artist’s statement by R. P. Browne

Telescope safaris in a city of millions

An improbable gift turned into the All Seeing Eye

Among the most precious of things I used to do as a kid were the telescope safaris. On occasion of a birthday -probably my 12th- I was given a long, intriguing parcel. Prey to anxiety I got rid of the wrapping, and was blown away as soon as my eyes fell upon the contents...a telescope!

At the time I was mad about astronomy; however, to my bitter disappointment, the brightness of my multi-million inhabitant city made the brand new present totally inappropriate for the scrutiny of the night skies. Very soon though, in a spectacular shift of scientific interests, I found a new use for my special item. Together with my mother and siblings I lived in an apartment in Buenos Aires, conveniently located at the intersection between the Zoo and the Botanical Gardens. Our flat was on a lower floor of a fourteen storey block, and despite being strictly forbidden to someone of my age, I started clambering up to the roof terrace at every given opportunity. Armed with my telescope I was on top of the world: an All Seeing Eye towards the wide urban universe.

Further down in puberty I would take aim at random women sunbathing on the terraces of their posh properties; however during the more innocent times the Zoo was the only game in the world for me. Gazing over the park from this summit, the animals looked quite different: harmless, and silent, but fascinating nonetheless. They felt more real than at the Zoo itself, because focusing the lenses on them blurred the bars of their cages, isolating the mundane mob of visitors. Unlike the staged Africa Tarzan series on our black and white TV set, or the stuffed specimens in my private school’s museum, the animals my telescope showed me were livelier, colourful.

According to their status and celebrity, the lions enjoyed some privileged open space, separated from the public by a deep perimeter ditch. There it was: a huge, furry cat basking under the midday sun, totally oblivious to the hundreds of eyes watching every swish of its tail... the Zoo star couldn’t care less about the cookies thrown at him by a hoard of attention seeking urban kids. And there I was, the ruling emperor at the APEX of this visual food chain, secretly hoping that one unfortunate Christian would fall down, so that I could see the sudden frenzy of a roman circus erupting at both sides of the fence.

Many years later, in the real Africa, my perception of the natural hierarchy was temporarily challenged. When touring a game reserve in a car or diving among sharks in an aluminium bar cage in the ocean, the notion of who was the top predator became a dangerous blur; this time the confined specimen was me! What if the car had broken down in the wilderness or the diving cage’s door hadn't been properly shut? Subconsciously I might´ve viewed myself as one of those annoying visitors of my childhood´s daydreams of the Zoo, but who suddenly realizes he´s on the wrong side of the fence; what a stylish way to be mentioned in the paper’s banal news that millions will read next day commuting to work.For better or for worse, technology has brought us to the top, perhaps too fast or too soon. Have we done nothing more than enhanced the predatory system, taking it to a higher level?

The making of this series was like a voyage of discovery into the primordial realm which coexists with our modern, slick urban world. At some point along this trip I took 143 screen prints from Google Earth, and patiently stitched them together to form a swampy looking urban background for one of the largest pieces. I could feel the distant but wonderful eco of being back on that high and powerful cloud; once again up there like the All Seeing Eye.

R. P. Browne

 

click on image to view APEX PROJECT full brochure

 

or click on image for APEX BLOG