A Wild Ride in Words and Images through Land Use Politics in the Changing West
by Lucy R. Lippard
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Published Apr 2014
208 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
Award-winning author, curator, and activist Lucy R. Lippard is one of America's most influential writers on contemporary art, a pioneer in the fields of cultural geography, conceptualism, and feminist art. Hailed for "the breadth of her reading and the comprehensiveness with which she considers the things that define place" (The New York Times), Lippard now turns her keen eye to the politics of land use and art in an evolving New West.
Working from her own lived experience in a New Mexico village and inspired by gravel pits in the landscape, Lippard weaves a number of fascinating themes - among them fracking, mining, land art, adobe buildings, ruins, Indian land rights, the Old West, tourism, photography, and water - into a tapestry that illuminates the relationship between culture and the land. From threatened Native American sacred sites to the history of uranium mining, she offers a skeptical examination of the "subterranean economy."
Featuring more than two hundred gorgeous color images, Undermining is a must-read for anyone eager to explore a new way of understanding the relationship between art and place in a rapidly shifting society.
"Starred Review. This singular book will stir the 'creative energies' of veteran Lippard fans and environmentalists as well as a new generation of artist-activists." - Publishers Weekly
"This is an intensely personal narrative of degraded ecosystems, exhausted lands, and dispirited peoples. Readers will be captivated by Lippard's gut-wrenching identification with, and her eloquent elucidation of, accumulating hazards and diminishing resources." - Linda Weintraub, author of To Life!: Eco Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet and Art on the Edge and Over
"Lippard's timely book extends beyond the discourse of art history and cultural geography. It is a call for action. She guides us on a tour of the American West that is being ravaged by oil and gas interests, damaging both the environment and our collective psyche. Her critique and the numerous artists that she weaves into her narrative visualizes the destruction, as well as presenting alternatives that could direct land use toward a more just and sustainable future." - Nicolas Lampert, author of A People's Art History of the United States
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lucy R. Lippard is an internationally known writer, activist, and curator. She has authored twenty-two books, has curated more than fifty major exhibitions, and holds nine honorary degrees. Lippard is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts grants. She lives in New Mexico.
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