29th of March
The art: Top: Pirkle Jones, Town of Monticello, Early Spring, 1956, from the series “Death of a Valley,” 1956. Bottom: Unknown photographer for Eastman’s Originals, Berryessa Lake, Monticello Dam, California, 1960. The news: “The Green Elite: The Top 10 States for Renewable Power,” by Jordan Weissmann for TheAtlantic.com. Each of the top 10’s leading source of power is hydroconventional.  The source: The Pirkle Jones picture is from the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The photo from the Eastman’s Originals Collection is in the special collections of the University of California, Davis, and was accessed via the indispensable Calisphere. Critical note: In 1956 Pirkle Jones and Dorothea Lange collaborated on one of most underrated documentary projects of the post-war era: The evacuation and subsequent destruction of the Napa County town of Monticello, Calif. so that the federal Bureau of Reclamation could build Monticello Dam and create Lake Berryessa. Today the dam provides electricity to northern counties of the San Francisco Bay Area.  The Jones-Lange project, titled “Death of a Valley,” was featured in a special issue of Aperture magazine in 1960.

The art: Top: Pirkle Jones, Town of Monticello, Early Spring, 1956, from the series “Death of a Valley,” 1956. Bottom: Unknown photographer for Eastman’s Originals, Berryessa Lake, Monticello Dam, California, 1960.

The news: “The Green Elite: The Top 10 States for Renewable Power,” by Jordan Weissmann for TheAtlantic.com. Each of the top 10’s leading source of power is hydroconventional. 

The source: The Pirkle Jones picture is from the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The photo from the Eastman’s Originals Collection is in the special collections of the University of California, Davis, and was accessed via the indispensable Calisphere.

Critical note: In 1956 Pirkle Jones and Dorothea Lange collaborated on one of most underrated documentary projects of the post-war era: The evacuation and subsequent destruction of the Napa County town of Monticello, Calif. so that the federal Bureau of Reclamation could build Monticello Dam and create Lake Berryessa. Today the dam provides electricity to northern counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. 

The Jones-Lange project, titled “Death of a Valley,” was featured in a special issue of Aperture magazine in 1960.

Posted by modernartnotes
March 29, 2012 10:20am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZK7Y6yIl18Gh
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(Notes: 41)
  
Filed under: The Atlantic art documentary environment history landscape power SFMOMA Calisphere Aperture 
6th of March
The art: Zoe Strauss, proof of a potential layout from her forthcoming book “On the Beach.” The project and book chronicle the aftermath of the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The proof is from 2011, the photographs are from 2010. The news: “BP to Pay $7.8 Billion to Settle Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Lawsuit, Is It a Bad Deal for Gulf Residents?” on Democracy Now! radio. The source: Zoe Strauss’s Flickr. Nota bene: Strauss is currently the subject of this solo exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 2010 she and I conducted this Q&A about her “On the Beach” project on Modern Art Notes: Part one, part two. She was also a guest on The Modern Art Notes Podcast earlier this year. She was a great guest. I guarantee you’ll love the program.

The art: Zoe Strauss, proof of a potential layout from her forthcoming book “On the Beach.” The project and book chronicle the aftermath of the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The proof is from 2011, the photographs are from 2010.

The news: “BP to Pay $7.8 Billion to Settle Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Lawsuit, Is It a Bad Deal for Gulf Residents?” on Democracy Now! radio.

The source: Zoe Strauss’s Flickr.

Nota bene: Strauss is currently the subject of this solo exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 2010 she and I conducted this Q&A about her “On the Beach” project on Modern Art Notes: Part one, part two. She was also a guest on The Modern Art Notes Podcast earlier this year. She was a great guest. I guarantee you’ll love the program.

Posted by modernartnotes
March 6, 2012 11:46am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZK7Y6yHZbd7Y
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(Notes: 3)
  
Filed under: art landscape portrait photography documentary history news BP 
20th of December
The art: Sammy Baloji, Memory, 2006. The news: “New Law Aims to Shine Light on Conflict Metals,” by Michele Kelemen for NPR News.  Nota bene: Baloji’s pictures don’t portray the conflict trade per se, but they do focus on the legacy of natural resource wealth squandered by corruption and mismanagement.  The source: Baloji’s “The Beautiful Time” series opens at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on Jan. 7 and will remain on view for a year. New York’s Museum for African Art published a monograph of the series in 2010.

The art: Sammy Baloji, Memory, 2006.

The news: “New Law Aims to Shine Light on Conflict Metals,” by Michele Kelemen for NPR News. 

Nota bene: Baloji’s pictures don’t portray the conflict trade per se, but they do focus on the legacy of natural resource wealth squandered by corruption and mismanagement. 

The source: Baloji’s “The Beautiful Time” series opens at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on Jan. 7 and will remain on view for a year. New York’s Museum for African Art published a monograph of the series in 2010.

Posted by modernartnotes
December 20, 2011 11:43am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZK7Y6yDX6WFC
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(Notes: 14)
  
Filed under: art documentary landscape mining Africa 
13th of May
The art: Christopher Sims, Makkah, 12793km, Camp Delta, 2006. From the series “Guantanamo Bay,” shot in 2006 and 2010. The news: “Guantanamo After Bin Laden,” by David Cole for the New York Review of Books blog, NYRblog.  The source: Civilian Art Projects, Washington, DC. To see more images from the series, click here. For more on Sims’ project (and for more images), see his website here. Highly recommended.

The art: Christopher Sims, Makkah, 12793km, Camp Delta, 2006. From the series “Guantanamo Bay,” shot in 2006 and 2010.

The news: “Guantanamo After Bin Laden,” by David Cole for the New York Review of Books blog, NYRblog. 

The source: Civilian Art Projects, Washington, DC. To see more images from the series, click here. For more on Sims’ project (and for more images), see his website here. Highly recommended.

Posted by modernartnotes
May 13, 2011 10:45am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZK7Y6y54ueF2
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(Notes: 27)
  
Filed under: NYRB, Guantanamo, Gitmo, art documentary New York Review of Books