David McDermott and Peter McGough crossed paths during the early 1980s in New York City. Realizing a common desire to abandon modernity in lieu of more refined, antiquated reality, the pair soon became artistic collaborators. Together they moved into a Lower East Side apartment and did away with the electrical system, artificial lighting, copper plumbing and in general, any comforts of twentieth century domesticity. Thus began their venture into an immersive and performative lifestyle. By dressing exclusively in Edwardian and Victorian attire, speaking in period-appropriate dialect, the pair created their own world within a world, ultimately fabricating a utopian, gentile version of the past.
“This was not to be just some fancy version of escaping the proverbial rat race but more of a proposal of time experimentation, an attempt to live in at least two worlds simultaneously; creating a skip in the progressive linearity of history.”
—Mark Alice Durant
While McDermott and McGough's joint practice originated with painting, in 1987 they heeded a friend’s advice and began photographically documenting their life. After finding an 8 x 10 in. format camera in an antique shop, the duo made initial exposures inside their Alphabet City home. Dissatisfied with the appearance of gelatin silver prints, they opted for historically accurate processes. As seen in this lot, cyanotypes provided a means to add a further sense of authenticity to the subject matter. Like they had done with their paintings, the duo employed the tactic of back-dating to further displace the time period depicted. Despite being produced in 1989, the title (and aesthetic) of these two works leads the viewer to believe they were created in 1907.