McDermott and McGough David McDermott American, 1952-; and Peter McGough American, 1958- In their own words, David McDermott (born in Hollywood, California) and Peter McGough (born in Syracuse, New York) "would like to stop time . . . and make a world where all time exists simultaneously." In their cyanotype and palladium photographs, printed using antiquated processes, the duo achieve their aim by self-consciously selecting still-life subjects that harken back to 19th-century sources in order to comment on the future. Props such as antique sculptures, memento mori, and Victorianesque furniture are used to suggest the deterioration of the contemporary Western world by recreating the look of pre-modern times. Backdated to the time period they are meant to recall, the photographs are less re-creations of the past than ironic post-modern statements on the cyclical history of culture as evidenced by its material and visual remains. Both attended Syracuse University, although at different times (McDermott from 1970-74; McGough in 1976), and met in the early 1980s in New York City. Like the older collaborative team of British conceptual artists Gilbert and George, McDermott and McGough eradicate distinctions between their art and their lives. Furnishing their New York apartment in Victorian decor, eschewing electricity and telephones in favor of gas lamps, and wandering through SoHo sporting top hats and canes, the idiosyncratic duo has garnered both accolades and ridicule. As painters and photographers, McDermott and McGough have met with considerable success. Since 1986 they have had more than 11 solo exhibitions and have been included in two Whitney Biennials (1987, 1991). A.W.