John Divola: Three Acts [Hardcover]

David Campany (Author), Jan Tumlir (Author), John Divola (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2006

In 1973, California artist John Divola began the first of three highly ambitious and original bodies of work that form Three Acts, the first book dedicated to them. His Vandalism series comprises black-and-white photographs of interiors of abandoned houses. Entering illegally, Divola spray-painted markings that referenced action painting as readily as the graffiti that was then becoming a cultural phenomenon. For the following year's Los Angeles International Airport Noise Abatement series, he photographed a condemned neighborhood bought out to serve as a noise buffer for new runways, focusing on evidence of previous unsanctioned entries by other vandals. His final work, Zuma, documents the destruction of an abandoned beachfront property by the artist and others, as it deteriorates frame by frame and eventually burns. Divola has much in common with artists such as Bruce Nauman and Robert Smithson who have used photography to investigate other topics. He describes his innovative practice succinctly: "My acts, my painting, my photographing, my considering, are part of, not separate from, this process of evolution and change. My participation was not so much one of intellectual consideration as one of visceral involvement."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Spirals, dots, squiggles and geometric shapes enhance the forgotten corners of these empty constructions. The notion of abandonment also features heavily, from the literal house removal in LA to the use of empty window frames in decrepit beach houses to frame skies." -- HotShoe International

"Visceral meets conceptual in this work that explores intersections between painting, performance, installation, and anthropology, via the ever hybrid medium photography." -- Julie Anand -- Photo-Eye: The International Magazine of Photography Books

"Three Acts consists of photographs of vacant and vandalized houses peppered with Divola's artistic hand. Divola uses spray paint to accent some of the jagged edges of broken glass, ceilings, and punctured walls among other objects." -- Focus: Fine Art Photography Magazine

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Aperture; First Edition edition (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931788952
• ISBN-13: 978-1931788953
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 11.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #723,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Destruction and change are documented in vivid black and white photos, August 5, 2006

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Divola: Three Acts (Hardcover)

David Campany's essay provides a historian/photographer's background and perspective while critic Jan Tumlir's interview adds more depth to compliment the photo gathering of John Divola's Three Acts. Divola created these bodies of work over the course of the 1970s, pulling together the themes of Vandalism, LAX NAZ and Zuma created in condemned neighborhoods, urban settings, and through interplays between artist and subject. Destruction and change are documented in vivid black and white photos.