ASU Herberger College School of Art Faculty Exhibition
October 18, 2008 – January 25, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday, October 17, 7-9 p.m.
Mark Klett, Regents' Professor of Photography and Byron Wolfe
Details from the view at Point Sublime on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, based on the panoramic drawing by William Holmes (1882), 2007
Inkjet photograph, 24”x87.5”
The artists and Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale
The William Holmes lithograph from Pt Sublime is often considered a masterpiece of topographical rendering and a key illustration in the atlas that accompanied the first geologic report of the Grand Canyon. Features of the panoramic view from the canyon’s north rim and the complex stratagraphic layering of the canyon walls are accurately depicted in this near 180° view from east to west. Holmes drew himself into the view while an observer, perhaps geologist Clarence Dutton, appears to look over the artist’s shoulder. This simple gesture suggests that while the canyon was created by geologic processes, it’s place as a cultural icon has been largely cemented by images carried from the scene.
The view from Pt Sublime today bears close resemblance to Holmes’ lithograph. Visiting the site in 2007, Byron Wolfe and I considered how to respond to the detail and beauty of Holmes’ earlier work as well as the enormity of the space itself. We spent two days at the location and made over 1000 photographs of the scene. In the end we chose to embed details from our observations into Holmes’ wider view. A glimpse of the Colorado River, a rock wall at sunrise, a raven flying overhead, a storm at night above the south rim, falling rain at sunset were among the observations we chose to represent from our time spent there. The canyon often appears timeless to an observer, but the experience of such a place has everything to do with the exactness of a moment. Images from different times can be stacked and layered to reveal the history of individual moments and mirror the multiple rock strata of the canyon walls.
More information: John Spiak, spiak@asu.edu.
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