The Object is Null

The Object is Null is comprised of reproductions in sculptural and photographic form of an object that is not present in the exhibition. Each work is entitled Null Reference with a subtitle, such as (Backdrop), which references the new forms and objects that come from the divergence of initial inspiration and reproductive sharing.  The origins of Null Reference stem from the globalized, technological world we live in today, referring to computer programming language in which NullReferenceExceptions are thrown when one tries to access a reference variable that isn’t referencing any object - hence, it is null.

The Object is Null analyzes the inherent illusions of photography; photography’s subtle alteration of reality and its consequential “gloss of remove”. Each of Hahn’s reproductions is an imperfect one, modified from the missing object by materials, size, color shifted to greyscale, shadow, and dimensionality.  From early sculptural and photographic reproduction, to our penchant in a global marketplace to manufacture objects to be sold from photos of objects sourced online, the Null References own their imperfections, comment on our tendency to organize like things together, and become convincing stand-ins for the object referenced—so much so that they are considered the object themselves.