Mitch Epstein - http://www.mitchepstein.net/ - his American Power is a interesting body relating to the course. Interesting how our industrial edifices, in their enormity, connotate their centrality within our society.
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Is it appropriate that the industrial entity claim the centerpiece position in our society? Maybe that was appropriate in the 1940-50’s, maybe late 80’s. But now, I feel that society is more about masking the process, and participants of the process, of production. There is this strange ignorance surrounding where stuff came from and where stuff goes after we done with it. It is a very dense ignorant fog that surrounds us. A more appropriate entity would be a giant over-commercialized product, like a luxury car, ipod touch or giant boobs (note: not breasts), with a flag paint job, skin, or skin-tight bra.
ReplyDeleteNow that I am looking more at the image, I don’t feel like it relates to anything I’ve seen before. That structure could be something similar found in a country that is manufacturing our stuff, but this spectacle is disappearing out of the American canvas. The immediate evidence of the process and its participants are being pushed out of the commercial hotspot and outward towards areas that are more accommodating for them. With the world, essentially, adopting western perspectives on consumption, they too will want to shove evidence of the process and its participants out of their canvas as well. Eventually, there will be no more surface area for the industrial process to take place and a new and debilitating problem will emerge, assuming there will not already be a slew of issues that prevent this issue from occurring.
American is the top mass consumption country in the world and this "American power" by Mitch Epstein shows the power of industrial edifices, and enormity. In this society, we cannot live without energy and of course all the necessary products that we use in our daily life. Relating to our lecture, American technology has been rapidly improved after the industrial revolution. Although there were some groups of people who were against technology. The Amish and Technology is the great example. The Luddites was the offical movement against the industrial revolution. They feard the new technology because they no longer will have job. So they built the "human scale community" with no grid power, and self-propelled.
ReplyDeleteHowever, after the industrial revolution, there was a drastic change in materials and styles in America. Even the house needs all sorts or technologies. "Houses=Technology" The size of the American houses get bigger and bigger but the family size keep shrunk. So, the American sense of space got different and people seek enormity.
I find Mitch Epstein’s American Power series interesting, although I would like to see some explanations accompanying the photographs. I think that when artists try to spark thought or bring about change in society, as I assume Epstein is doing, they must do more than merely show pictures of the problems. Sure, visuals begin to get the message across, but after looking at the photos in Epstein’s series I didn’t feel like I had acquired any new knowledge or opinions that I did not have before. The picture that I think affected me the most was the one of the Amos Coal Power Plant. In this photo, a portrait of some nice cottage homes with gardens is obscured by a huge, grey, towering power plant only a few feet in the distance. This clearly shows how corporations and factories are using every bit of American soil possible, and only show signs of future expansion.
ReplyDeleteI think Lasn makes a very good point in Culture Jam when he talks about the new “activists.” People nowadays are too wrapped up in research, data collection, and observation-making, and show no signs of actually putting their ideas into action. The quote, “sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul,” by Edward Abbey, is extremely true – we can talk about and make art about the destruction of our environment and society as much as we want, but until we actually get out and DO SOMETHING about it, nothing’s really going to change.
Mitch Epstein's "American Power" is revealing what we should already be aware of, our mass consumption of energy. It can be seen by most of us in our surroundings. His photos show the problem at a much larger scale and are placed in context when you have all the photos together. I have visited family in Las Vegas and it just becomes more evident when you see it in person. Las Vegas is literally in the middle of the Mojave desert driving only an hour from the center of the city and your in the expanse of a endless desert. The only reason Las Vegas can exist is beause of dams like the Hoover Dam which supports not just Las Vegas, but Arizona, and California. I have been to the Hoover Dam and it is incredible the scale and size, but it has done much harm to the local environment. In the photo Epstein took, the white line above Lake Mead is how much the water has sunk due to a ten year drought. Here is a link to an interesting article on the problem
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a_b86mnWn9.w
Lasn finishes "Culture Jam" with much insight and understanding to how to correctly change consumer capitalism. Focusing our rage on the real problems in society and not becoming complacent. Demarketing corporations and making an environment for public voice to partake in the media. I agree with what Abby stated that we cannot just recognize these problems, but we need to act and try to change them.
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ReplyDelete‘Industrial edifices with their enormity’ has been globally issued for many years since the era of industrial revolution. Factories are the essential cause for the pollution in any developed societies. The edifices’ excrement dissolves within our living. The consumption issue follows to this issue. America doesn’t want to lack or feel shortage of any stuff. We have to gain what we need. Culture Jam’s “corporation power” is recalled. Companies’ factories are very crucial in our environment.
ReplyDeleteI found Mitch Eptsein’s works very interesting. His works are very detailed in representing the problem of American industry and consumption. I got really interested in the photo of the two chimneys that are releasing massive smoke. It is astonishingly effective on how much negative effect the edifices give to the society.
Industrial revolution has changed the country of United States dramatically by mass producing material goods. As factories have been produced more material have been produced. And with more and more materials made, people have been consuming more and more stuff. Until now, industry in America have been developing and with these developed technologies and factories, the consumption rate has equally gone up.
ReplyDeleteI am really interested in the work of Mitch Eptsein in that his works are very well developed in showing american production and consumption. Even with the main image on the blog, the large flag of America on a factory shows how american people wants to show there leading technologies and developed factories. For some reason, I like the way he takes his photographs. It took my attention when I started looking at the images that he has taken.
Epstein’s photographs do well to showcase how our industrialized society has, quite literally, carved out a place in our history. However, I feel that the nine images in his “American Power” series are only somewhat cohesive. His subject matter is so diverse that at first its almost difficult to connect one image to the next (guys on dirt bikes, wind turbines). But I suppose what he is attempting to do is leave it up to the spectator to figure the connections out for themselves. By setting up his series like this he inspires deeper reflection on the part of the observer.
ReplyDeleteThe image I enjoy most is the one depicting the quaint house with the pleasant backyard. At first I didn’t realize the massive smokestacks in the background, this was probably Epstein’s intent. In this way the scene reflects how often times we are blind to industrial landscapes, regardless of how blatantly intrusive they may be.
Lasn speaks about activism in his book, and how pivotal it is in altering the state of consumer culture. While Epstein’s images attempt to showcase the effects of industrialization on the American landscape, they don’t show me anything I haven’t seen before. Ideally a photograph may inspire one, ten, or a hundred individuals to motivate towards some form of action, but I feel this particular series falls short. When compared to the work of an artist like Edward Burtynsky these images seem rather banal, like something you would see in a textbook.
What I see when I look at Mitch Epstein's photography is the massive use of energy. It is no surprise to anyone that we, as a society are consuming more energy than ever. The question is when are we going to realize that there must be some maximum limit that our atmosphere can tolerate.
ReplyDeleteThe picture of the factory with the large American flag feels contradictory for me. The reason being is we are more and more hearing about the "go green" campaign; and to a certain extent I believe that is what America is trying to preach to all of us. So to put an American flag on a factory that is pumping out energy and undoubtedly a significant amount of air pollution seems conflicting.
When reviewing other pictures in Mitch Epstein's series to see the setting in which there is what seems to be a nice rural home, but then in the background there are the nuclear plant stacks; it again feels conflicting to me. In one sense we are painting the picture of the nice little homestead, but then to provide the power needed to run it we see that there is a factory in the landscape.
Las Vegas has to be one city that requires an extensive amount of energy. It is open 24/7 and it just radiates with the use of lights and energy. Now of course the Hoover Dam is close at hand when there is this need for energy, but it still warrants the question -- 'Is all of this really necessary' When is enough energy transmission going to be enough?
As a society I think we are striving to do things that will improve out environment; or at the very least keep it status quo -- but is this going to be enough? I really wonder...
I looked through all of Epstein's work and I really enjoy all of it. He always seems to capture a moment that would in fact make you stop and look, but many of us dont have the resources to go out and find these moments or landscapes. Power in America was very interesting because i felt as if these things aren't new ideas to me but yet i feel like they were being presented to me for the first time. I feel like these landscapes are so profound that they would have been advertised long ago but here i am seeing them for the first time. Definitely in the Power in America there is a great use of scale to show how our industrialized landscapes are beginning to match up with our natural ones. It's weird when i look at the photographs i get this feeling of fantasy and usually you get a feeling like that when something about has been highly abstracted or because of scale, it reminds you of great powers, like mystical Kings and socerers or Large overpowering castles, but then you realize this is all for real. The one with the HUGE smokestacks in the background really emphasizes that feeling for me. It's kind of sad for me to say but i almost was like, hey that would be cool to live there next to those ginormo stacks, but I now for real that it only represents the increasing and potentially harmful industrialization of our nation . . . sigh.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most interesting about Epstein’s work was his sense of playing with the foreground and background. My favorite was the house, the yard and the looming plant in the background. It makes the viewer question what the subject of the images is because there is so much to take it. There is a strong message about how the industrial revolution and humans in general are changing the natural landscape. The Las Vegas scene was void of the color green but full of grey cement. Is the plant proud of what they are creating or hiding behind the flag? Is this what we represent or more of a mask? His images play up identity of landscapes and the people that inhabit them.
ReplyDeleteI find images with a little text more inspiring than lots of text. I am a visual learner, so I do not like to do things by the book. Literally. I find the images more engaging than any readings. I do like reading quotes though, so I read from important quote to next quote- and tend to forget what is in-between. Culture Jam is correct I think that while technology is one of our greatest assets, it is also in a sense damning us. WE are so caught up in the technical aspects and getting something else to draw conclusions and make decisions that we the people just sit back waiting to be told. Only people can bring change.
Chapter 10 of Collapse discusses the Genocide in Rwanda. I found it really shocking that two tribes, the Hutu and the Tutsi who are so closely related, began killing each other for seemingly no reason. The two tribes live side by side and began disputing years ago. The disputes led to a long history of power struggles and ended in Genocide.
ReplyDeleteDiamond describes the genocide as a result of government interference and the increasing population pressure in Rwanda. It is crazy to think about these two tribes, sometimes undistinguishable from one another running through the streets murdering their neighbors. Since many people intermarried between tribes they resulted in killing family members and friends. In the end about 11 percent of Rwanda’s population had been killed.
Diamond writes about this genocide as a possible result of inadequate living conditions, manly the shortage of food and farmland. Rwandans families were farming on tiny parcels of land, too small to support even one person, and struggling to feed their families. This resulted in children betraying siblings for larger inheritance of land and disowning family in efforts to conserve food.
This entire article was very sad. It is crazy to think about a population so stressed that they are reduced to betrayal and worse, murder. It seems very inhumane, almost animal-like. But when humans live simply to survive, what is the difference between animals and us. As Americans we are very spoiled and also very unappreciative. We never think about the fact that we don’t struggle to survive. It is also sad that it takes an article of this magnitude to remind us of this fact.
Seeing Mitch Epstein’s photographs made me feel a bit embarrassed for America and the image we sometimes project. Although the intensions of this plant to display a large American flag were probably not to correlate consumption issues with American pride but there is definitely some irony here. It’s like those country songs that talk about being “all American” and having Scoal rings on their jeans, NASCAR, and carrying guns in their truck. This is not the image I want to project for myself as an American but unfortunately I alone cannot alter our image.
ReplyDeleteIf we want to steer away from this stigma as being wasteful, spoiled Americans, we must actually cut back. But how do we begin the change? If a person can afford the homes Joe is showing in lecture, with the three-car garages, why should one person buy a smaller home if he has worked so hard to deserve it and when no one else is making sacrifices? It’s as if the American way, which is to successful and achieve your dreams is the reason we cannot begin to see a difference. We all believe we deserve the best and others should make the choice to be efficient, but obviously if everyone thinks like this we are left with today’s concerns for the environment.
In the first chapter of Collapse, Diamond begins by discussing his interest in fly-fishing, which eventually leads him to Montana. In Montana he learns about all the local environmental issues. Some of the main issues of Montana include: Toxic waste from mining, logging and burning of forests, and soil depletion. Diamond explains that these environmental issues translate into economic issues, leading to the downfall of one of the richest states in the U.S. to one of the poorest. Diamond explains that these issues could be the result of the arrival of new comers to Montana. The people who did not grow up farming and mining bring a completely new industry to Montana and change the way of life its locals have known for decades.
ReplyDeleteHe also says, “People use to expect no more of a farm than to produce enough to feed themselves; today they want more out of life than just getting fed; they want to earn enough to send their kids to college.”
I don’t feel that the environmental and economic issues sprouted solely from the arrival of new comers but from the changing lifestyles. We no longer want to survive we want to live. Parents want more for their children. Like Diamond said, farmers want to make enough money to send their children to college. This presents two new problems, one being the issues involved in farming techniques that allow speedy mass crop growth. The second issue lies in the fact that farmers, like everyone else, want to educate their children and send them to college. But most people with a college degree do not become farmers. These issues seem to be springing from one another and compiling to create one large question; if these issues are so evident on a small scale like the state of Montana, what happens when we see them on a much larger scale, such as the U.S. or even the world? Will it be too late when that day arrives?
This photo says a lot about our country. When looking at it, there was an instantaneous connection that my mind made between the U.S. and industrial work. As Americans, we are not only huge consumers but also huge producers. The size of this factory is extremely large, and most likely needs a lot of people to keep it running and functioning. The flag makes the territory look as though it is claimed to one country, like saying “this is my land, my property, and I own something that is larger than yours.” A lot of the things Americans have and make are big. I noticed this when I went to France, three summers ago: most people drive smaller cars, eat smaller amounts of food, and seem much less concerned with size and amount than Americans.
ReplyDeleteThere are always pros and cons for factories such as this one. The pros are that the factories build things that help families, help support the global economy, and make a lot of products in a very short amount of time. The cons are that factories pollute the environment, take up a lot of natural area that can no longer be inhabited, and add to the global problems of consumerism. A lot of the topics we discuss in ADP have very similar pros and cons lists, which makes it very hard to choose what to do. The main point seems to be just getting us to be aware of things, but with these kinds of pictures shown on the blog site, I’m not sure where to go with this information or what to do with it. It is making a clear statement that is important, but a lot of it seems impossible to stop; giving me a sense of insignificance instead of potential.