We finally made the trip out to Dia Beacon this weekend. Not being a huge fan of contemporary minimalist sculpture, it makes sense that I hadn’t driven 2 hours north from Brooklyn, but now we live in Yonkers it’s not so far. The work of Zoe Leonard was the work that stood out to me. It was especially interesting having just walked past Bernd and Hilla Becher’s work. The Niagara postcards seemed like a different way to study typologies along with an examination of the differences between modes of reproduction and representation of the American landscape. The expanse of the project and the size of the collection is impressive in itself but I think it’s held together by things (that I normally avoid in my own work) such as concept and intent. Rarely would I ever argue for a photographic works strength being defined by it’s idea. As Dia says “Rendered stereotypical and generic through repletion over decades, these landscape motifs are emblematic of mass culture’s transformation of natural sites into tourist destinations.”
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