JOHN GERRARD
Animated Scene
Germ./Engl., 64 p., numerous color images., 29,5 x 19 cm, softcover, 2009
ISBN 978-3-85160-154-1
€ 24,70 [A]
€ 24,00 [D]
With contributions
by Michael A. Morris, Patrick T. Murphy, Linda Norden and Jasper Sharp
John Gerrard, Animated Scene, a collateral event at the 53rd International
Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia,
Isola di Certosa
John Gerrard creates virtual scenes, astonishingly real but entirely and
meticulously fabricated by the artist and his studio. In 2006, he discovered
a single archival image of the North American 'Dust Bowl' which has informed
much of his research since. Between 2007-2009 he produced a series of
works, each requiring up to a year to build, that document agri-industrial
landscapes of the Great Plains, scattered with grain silos, pig production
units and small towns. From the unflinching vantage point of an orbital
camera, the viewer is encouraged to look at these desolate places and
appraise the underlying structures that sustain contemporary society.
One finds evidence of a nitrogen-and oil-based reality, dehumanized and
existing on the outer limits of what is environmentally possible or even
plausible.