Desert to Suburb, framing the American Dream

Stéphane Couturier, Fenetre, Eastlake Greens, San Diego, edition 4/8, 2001, dye coupler print, 130.81 x 107.95 x 2.54 cm (LACMA, © Stéphane Couturier)

With Elizabeth Gerber, Museum Educator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Steven Zucker

This Seeing America video was made possible thanks to major grants from the Terra Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation

[Tflexxx]

Like the divisions between the built homes, those under construction, and the desert, there's a further division within the subset of the built homes: between their front and back yards. The front yards are "developed" and "finished", with planted green grass and shrubs. But behind the yard fences, their back yards are like the desert beyond, apparently not yet planted (under construction) or to be left "barren" like the desert. Perhaps the dichotomy is like that between the housing and the desert, both divided by what seems to be a distant fence. In any case, there seems to me to be a subset within one of the subsets in the picture, partially referencing back to the entire composition.

[alfredoechevarrieta]

Gracias. Observo que en la fotografía del paisaje existe en la composición algo muy aproximado a un rectángulo áureo. Nuevamente mi agradecimiento por sus excelentes análisis.

[Sasha]

I just finished my French lessons, so I'm here for the name on this one. 😌
What a view du cette fenetre, lol. And what a view of San Diego vs Tijuana - that struck me.
Politics doesn't tickle my pickle, but I am concerned about that imposition of our dreams on the land, as Dr. Zucker mentioned. Are our growth and activities sustainable for the planet or is this going to have some disastrous consequence? I hope we can figure it out...