Section13: Photo From ThirtyFour Parkinglots
Artist's books; Conceptual art; Photography--United States--20th century; Pop art; Los Angeles (Calif.)--Pictorial works; Parking lots; Aerial photography; Urban landscape; Vernacular architecture; Seriality in art; Typological photography; Documentary photography; American West; Photographic books
A single photographic image extracted from Edward Ruscha's seminal artist's book "Thirtyfour Parking Lots in Los Angeles" (1967), presented as Section 13 of this issue. The photograph is an aerial view of a parking lot, captured from above to reveal its geometric patterns, surface details, and abstract formal qualities. For the original book project, Ruscha hired professional aerial photographer Art Alanis to shoot bird's-eye views from a helicopter of thirty-four Los Angeles parking lots, including locations such as Dodger Stadium, Universal City, The May Company, Century City, and Gilmore Drive-In Theatre. All lots were photographed devoid of cars, emphasizing the structures' essential forms, patterns (particularly herringbone configurations), and unexpected visual features like oil droppings on asphalt surfaces revealed by the absence of vehicles. Ruscha's fifth artist's book (first published 1967, edition of 2,413 copies; second edition 1974, 2,000 copies), "Thirtyfour Parking Lots" represented the largest format among his self-published works of the 1960s. The book exemplifies Ruscha's pioneering approach to photography as a medium for communicating information and ideas rather than fine art, what he called "no-style" photography with deadpan documentation of banal suburban structures. His straightforward, conceptual approach influenced later typological photographers including Bernd and Hilla Becher, Stephen Shore, Lewis Baltz, and Taryn Simon. Ruscha's photographic books challenged traditional visions of urban landscape and the accepted dichotomy between documentary and artistic photography. This work is part of his broader practice documenting Los Angeles vernacular architecture and landscape, including gas stations, apartment buildings, swimming pools, and the entirety of Sunset Strip and Hollywood Boulevard.
Ruscha, Edward, 1937- ; Alanis, Art (Photographer)
Graham, Dan, 1942-2022 (Issue Editor); Maciunas, George, 1931-1978 (Issue Designer); Johnson, Phyllis, 1926-2001 (Magazine Publisher); Alanis, Art (Aerial photographer for original book project)
Is part of Aspen Magazine No. 8 (Fall-Winter 1970-1971); Excerpt from "Thirtyfour Parking Lots in Los Angeles" (1967); Ruscha born 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska, moved to Los Angeles 1956; Studied at Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts) 1956-1960 under Robert Irwin and Emerson Woelffer; Associated with Ferus Gallery group and Pop art movement; Influenced Conceptual art and typological photography; Work in collections of MoMA, Whitney Museum, Tate, LACMA, Getty Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Major retrospectives at San Francisco MOMA (1982-83), Whitney Museum, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Oxford Museum of Modern Art, Hayward Gallery London, others
Single photographic print/poster; Black and white aerial photograph; Offset lithographic reproduction; Original book format: 25.4 x 20.1 cm (10 x 7 7/8 inches), 48 pages
Photograph; Aerial photography; Artist's book excerpt; Conceptual art documentation; Pop art; Offset lithographic reproduction
Temporal: 1965-1971 Spatial: New York, N.Y. Aspen, CO.