Amelia Bauer
Extra Terrestrial #1
2011

About the Item

Extra Terrestrial #1 Archival Pigment Print 2011 45" x 30" Edition of 5 + 1 AP $4,000 The unsettled landscape plays a central role in many American adventure myths as well as horror stories. Extra Terrestrial is an exploration into that conflicted American attitude towards wilderness. Using cinematic tropes as a reference point, Bauer creates spaces in which our romanticism of the great outdoors meets with the biblical conception of the uncultivated wild as the site of evil and chaos. This dichotomy plays itself out over and over again in the ever-moving American frontier — the transitional landscape at the boundaries of civilization. In the Southwest, the desert is equal parts the promise of the open road with ever expanding possibilities, and harsh, dry, inhospitable climates riddled with UFO lore and conspiracy theories. With Extra Terrestrial, Bauer returns to the landscapes of Northern New Mexico, where she was raised. By transforming landscapes that are familiar to her through printing techniques, she creates new spaces that are unfamiliar. Photographic reality is called into question, as the landscapes become overtly fictional spaces. The title Extra Terrestrial forces the idea that perhaps that these landscapes are not from Earth at all. On the other hand, the word extra implies that these photos, in the tradition of Western landscape painting, make the landscape more than itself; a heightened depiction of the place.

Creator:
Amelia Bauer (American)
Creation Year:
2011
Dimensions:
Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 45 in (114.3 cm)
Medium:
Archival Pigment
Condition:
Gallery Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1162908213
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