Description

Book Synopsis
David Hartt’s visual excavation of the politics of landscape, photography and empire Published for an exhibition curated by artist David Hartt, this volume focuses on the concept of "terraforming"—how land is shaped for human use throughout history—within the unique context of the monumental 250-acre earthwork at Frederic Edwin Church’s Olana in Hudson, New York. The book is composed of over 130 19th-century images, drawn from Olana’s permanent collection, by Désiré Charnay, Eadweard Muybridge and Carleton Watkins; these are seen as a nascent technology that became tools for expanding empires that used photography to chart new frontiers and to document the sediments of previous civilizations. The book also features documentation of the newly commissioned artistic intervention by Hartt that responds to the historic context of Olana itself, the artistic legacy of Church, and the way land is constantly shaped and reformed to reflect different and competing cultural values.

Terraforming: Olana’s Historic Photography

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A Hardback by Sean Sawyer, Sean Sawyer, Will Coleman

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    View other formats and editions of Terraforming: Olana’s Historic Photography by Sean Sawyer

    Publisher: The Olana Partnership
    Publication Date: 07/11/2023
    ISBN13: 9798987667507, 979-8987667507
    ISBN10: 9798987667507
    Also in:
    Photographs: collections

    Description

    Book Synopsis
    David Hartt’s visual excavation of the politics of landscape, photography and empire Published for an exhibition curated by artist David Hartt, this volume focuses on the concept of "terraforming"—how land is shaped for human use throughout history—within the unique context of the monumental 250-acre earthwork at Frederic Edwin Church’s Olana in Hudson, New York. The book is composed of over 130 19th-century images, drawn from Olana’s permanent collection, by Désiré Charnay, Eadweard Muybridge and Carleton Watkins; these are seen as a nascent technology that became tools for expanding empires that used photography to chart new frontiers and to document the sediments of previous civilizations. The book also features documentation of the newly commissioned artistic intervention by Hartt that responds to the historic context of Olana itself, the artistic legacy of Church, and the way land is constantly shaped and reformed to reflect different and competing cultural values.

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