lippard uses art photographs to talk about capitalist exploitation of the land, resources, air, water, trees, people, minerals of (mostly) western usa. she quotes dorothea lange pg 168:"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." and she looks at subhankar banerjee arctic photos, h ...more

Lucy R. Lippard sheds light on many of the complex issues both globally and locally concerning the use of public land. Throughout the book she uses photographs and pertinent history of the land in the West and its people. ...more

Slim, portable art + history + all-politics-is-local book.

You can read the captions and pics and feel as though you are moving through the rooms of a cool land art exhibition. Mineral extraction is a major theme. 400 photos and nary a human. File on the same shelf with a DVD of Koyaanisqatsi and Ro ...more

everything about this book is so information-dense it becomes almost illegible. the format of every page being half text and half image/caption made this book sooo genuinely impenetrable to me. writing is tight and fast but often overwhelming - a good starting point but crammed with so many examples ...more

Should be required reading for those of us living the Southwest. Lots of ideas beautifully woven together. ...more

“The most powerful images present not just what we see; they are also haunted by what we don’t see.” ...more

I think the author needs more practice or slam poetry sessions but she doesn't make me want to take another drink. Targeted information, great photos and proper attribution. ...more

Lippard provides great detail on capitalist exploitation of land, especially the American Southwest—the links made between land and human civilization were eye-opening and informative. Lippard's approach was more focused on socio-political happenings, corporate business dealings, and the activist mo ...more

An excellent follow-on to Ana Maria Spagna's 'Reclaimers,' although Lippard's book focuses on how artists attempt to make sense of land use in the American West, and how they document and publicize human outrages against the land. Every page includes a photograph by an artist or of an artist's work ...more

This feels like a rambling walk through various land use issues that we should all be very concerned about but don't seem to have the time for, using the work of artists who are concerned and do have time to illustrate and illuminate. The work of dozens of these artists and writers is shown and cite ...more