Ed Ruscha’s show Parking Lots displays photographs from 1967, consisting of 30 images of parking lots taken from an aerial perspective, mapping car culture that’s dominant within the urban landscape of modern and developing cities. They are printed on a smaller scale, with simple black frames, giving all the attention to the images. In black and white, the photographs begin to resemble a topographical map of parking lots.
When looking at this show, the viewer is faced with lots that are almost entirely empty, prepared for human activity to take place, ready to perform their duty as parking lots. In Gilmore Drive-In Theatre, 6201 W3rd St., it’s clear that a parking lot is vital to the function of the drive-in theater. State Dept. of Employment 14400 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, shows the pattern of traffic, showing a trail of human life in a transient place. The gallery was small and cramped– the frames were nearly touching. The lack of space forced prevented the images from becoming independent of each other. The work shows how barren spaces designed for the public can feel when not in use and how urban landscapes have been designed to accommodate human life.
-Victoria Andrew
I agree with your point that the show felt like almost an afterthought, because of the way that it was displayed in the smaller room. It didn’t have the room to hold a group of us, making it feel awkward and tight to stand in, which distracted from the work a little bit. It might feel different if you went solo, and weren’t trying to move around other people. I think that also the point that someone brought up in class about this show being displayed with Victoria Sambunaris’s show is important, but was lost in how Ruscha’s work was almost hidden, which I think sort of hindered me from seeing the connection right away.
ReplyDeleteThe presentation of the photographs does feel deliberate to me. The compactness and size of the gallery added to the idea of leaving no room. The walls had many tightly placed frames that helped emphasize the clutter and growth behind the numerous parking lots required for urban life. The aerial perspective communicates the true scale of these parking lots and points out how much space we dedicate to automobiles. I thought it was interesting to understand how these photographs represented urban development and car culture, but yet they were photographed at a time when they were empty. I would agree that the connection of these photographs to the adjacent gallery was not clear to me as well.
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