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May 14, 2004
I've just surfaced. As expected it was a hectic few days.
John Divola,Isolated Houses (High Desert)/ From Four Landscapes Portfolio / Isolated House #5, 1990/92
This is very conceptual work. In the artist's statement for this series Divola says that:
'"Four Landscapes" is a portfolio of twenty 18"x18" black and white photographs. All prints are details from high speed 35mm negatives and are as a result very grainy. These images are organized into four groups with five photographs in each group. The four groups are to be exhibited sequentially and the complete portfolio is designed to function as a coherent installation. '
He then talks about the content of the series:
"California has been represented as culture in a natural paradise (mountains, desert, sea). In this environment, culture has now effectively enveloped the natural; yet, we are still driven to get outside, or beyond, the cultural. People wandering in nature, building houses in the desert, taking boats out to sea - these are the literal manifestations of this desire.Within the contemporary urban reality the natural has become emblematic of transcendence and the vague destination of a general desire to get "outside" or "beyond."
You can replace California with Australia. We often talk about wilderness here but culture has enveloped nature. Even when you stand on the southern cliffs, and look out across the southern ocean, you realize that even this wilderness has been enveloped in culture:
John Divola,Boats at Sea #3, (Pacific Coast), 1991/92
The southern ocean is a playground for those who love boats and fishing. Parts of it have become marine protection areas.
The southern Fleurieu where we have our holiday shack, is now a marine protection area.
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