Interweaving her own photograph with the mugshot of
infamous murderer Peter Manuel, Louise Noguchi artfully
examines the role of the artist as the spectator in a mediasaturated
world. This crafting process anticipates digital
manipulation and a cut-and-paste aesthetic. In other images
in the same series, Noguchi weaves her photograph together
with those of murder victims. By blurring the identities
of victim and offender, these compilations challenge the
distinctions between the viewer, subject and creator.
A new kind of looking practice is called into being by
the ambiguity of Compilation Portrait #18.