Ok, No Response

Early in the Covid pandemic, Aaron Stern and Lucy Helton found themselves cut off from ordinary contact. In the spring of 2020 they started sending each other images through a thermal fax machine, using the machine as a way to keep a dialogue going. As the pandemic stretched through 2020 and into 2021, they invited other artists to send their own work through the machine.

The book gathers 140 of these pieces, made by twenty contributors: Juan Brenner, Antony Cairns, Madeline Cass, Jerald Cooper, Jeremy Everett, Christian Filardo, Fryd Frydendahl, Matthew Genitempo, Lucy Helton, Anthony Hernandez, Kovi Konowiecki, Gabby Laurent, Pixy Liao, Susan Lipper, Mark Mattock, Christian Patterson, Aaron Schuman, Bryan Schutmaat, Nick Sethi and Aaron Stern. Each photograph was passed through the fax, which stripped it to its simplest form and added errors, static and random glitches. The source images differ widely, but once they were translated, transmitted and reassembled as thermal prints on paper, they share a surprising visual unity. The project began as a simple wish to stay in touch during a period of isolation, and through the process it came to show how closely people remain connected.

Aaron Stern is a New York City-based curator, writer and photographer. He has worked with Vogue, Purple Magazine and The New York Times, and his books, poems and curatorial projects have been shown at Chateau Marmont, the International Center of Photography and Milk Gallery. He co-founded and owns the curatorial service A Medium Format.

Lucy Helton earned an MFA in photography from the Hartford Art School in 2014. Her work looks at the relationship between people and the landscapes they inhabit, and she often builds it around specific technologies such as HAM radio and fax machines. Her photobooks are held in the libraries of the International Center of Photography, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.