On the Subject of Stalking: Jon Horvath's "Stalking Michael Stipe"

Jon Horvath, From Stalking Michael Stipe (all images via)

I found Jon Horvath's photography last summer when he was taking over an Instagram account that I was following. He was in Southern Idaho, depicting the places I had visited days earlier for the "autobiography in water" project. After perusing his website, I discovered a small surprise, the series Stalking Michael Stipe: Another Prop to Occupy My Time. I think about it every once in awhile in relationship to my own activities, noting the differences and similarities between Stalking Artists: In Pursuit of Home. I appreciate his sincerity, the use of multimedia, and more often than not, I am thankful that I am not alone.

Jon Horvath, From Stalking Michael Stipe

From Jon's artist statement:

 

"Stalking Michael Stipe: Another Prop to Occupy My Time is an interactive multimedia installation detailing the accounts of a 36-hour photographic road trip through the Georgia landscape in pursuit of my one-time Rock n’ Roll idol. The project parameters were simple. When Michael emerged from his house the project began. When I lost his trail the project ended. All spaces I was led to in between became my photographic territory.

"Stalking Michael Stipe is experienced in 3 parts: 30” x 35” color photographs, an interactive 35mm slide box experience referencing the research and events that brought me to Michael’s door in Athens, GA, and a performed lecture detailing the many moments of coincidence that happened along the way. This online gallery is an abbreviated reinterpretation of the original installation, integrating both research slides and the final photographic outcome into a new self-contained and nonlinear sequence. Many have inquired about why I chose Michael Stipe as my subject. In short, for me, he was worth it."

Jon Horvath, From Stalking Michael Stipe 

Check out the rest of the series here.