The photographs in Shane Lavalette’s New Monuments take the idea of conservation and the human desire to preserve as their primary subject. Lavalette began this work in 2015 while conducting research as a visiting artist at The American Academy in Rome, Italy. Rome was an ideal place to examine questions around conservation and memory, as he observed the restoration of artwork and buildings, documented architecture and art, and spent time in historical collections closely studying slides and photographic objects. While working in this way, Lavalette simultaneously considered the notion of preservation more abstractly, turning the camera lens on people and nature of the city—looking for smaller ‘monuments’ in the form of everyday details and still lifes that, in contrast to more clinical studies, are rooted in emotion. Given the conceptual threads of the work itself, the series of photographs is a fitting addition to the blockchain, with a new digital permanence.
