The Book of Disasters: in the age of post truth
The Book of Disasters: in the age of post truth
Working with vintage reprints of Currier & Ives lithographs (1857-1907) as my collage source material is a way of looking at depictions of American life and the contrast with who we are now. The illustrations of family scenes, homesteads, disasters, sporting and cultural events represent a narrow vision of American identity. I am subverting these bucolic scenes of American life through depictions of natural disasters and destruction of man-made constructions to comment on the climate crisis and the dismantling of our democracy.
The collages are couched in pages from cabinet card photo albums, popularized by portrait studios in the late 19th century. These books were precious possessions, the photographs of subjects inside, a relatively new invention at the time, reflecting the occupants lives and those they held dear. It is this preciousness associated with the family album that interests me as a place to reflect on what we are losing.