John Divola

 

ZUMA

Upon first viewing John Divola's work with his series ZUMA  I assumed this was something that had been created during the 21st century. To me its use of color and subject matter felt contemporary and relevant in comparison to a lot of contemporary photographers I've been studying. This work was created 34 years ago in 1977 and I find that interesting.

I appreciate Divola's work. More interestingly, I appreciate and respect his process which seems to be an important aspect to him as well. When he visited this decaying house, if there was not a photograph waiting for him, he'd create a photograph by adding spray paint and debris. He remarked that this was not a documentation of painting or sculpture. These were similar to doodles. There's a certain impulse you experience as an artist when you are creating work. Jackson Pollock knew his work was be successful as long as he never lost touch with the painting. At the end of his artist statement on Zuma, Divola says "My participation was not so much one of intellectual consideration as one of visceral involvement." He's speaking here to the process. That visceral enjoyment that, for certain artists, is the reason behind creating visual art.


I enjoy this work because it's beautiful to look at and on an intellectual level I appreciate the fact that there is no contrived meaning being conjured. It is what it is. The meaning behind this is art. Other meanings gathered are incidental but I think that can be fascinating.