Zoe Leonard

Recently I went to the museum Dia: Beacon. The Dia is a great museum converted from an old animal box factory. Natural light pours in the space from when the workers needed skylights to see the colors of the dyes. A new piece that caught my eye was by Zoe Leonard entitled “You see I am here after all. “ Leonard collected a plethora of postcards of Niagara Falls, ranging from the very earliest taken and from different famous vantage points. The postcards are arranged according to their perspective and span almost the whole wall space. The arrangement of the postcards serves both as a way to catalog the photographs but is also visually compelling. At first glance the postcards seem to be of the same part of the falls, on a closer look the angles create an almost panoramic view. It elevates the piece that Leonard uses postcards instead of just using photographs. Although only the front of the card with the photograph is displayed, the historical nature of the sight and the pieces themselves adds a depth to the piece. Niagara Falls is a natural site but its commercialization over the years has added to its iconic and timeless quality. The postcards can both reinforce this notion and also combat it. If the viewer only gives the piece a superficial glance than the vast similarities of the post cards, exacerbated by the same color scheme, would be most apparent. Niagara Falls would appear to be a relic, almost a souvenir itself of a once new and exciting natural wonder. If the viewer inspects the piece closely though, the different perspectives and representations become clear. On the one hand the whole exhibit is a plate and example of the waterfalls changing nature but also can perpetuate the commercialization of the falls.
Last summer I visited Yosemite National Park with my California family. I was struck by the commercialization of different views of natural wonders such as Half Dome. It seemed that everywhere I went the iconic photograph by Ansel Adams. Although the photographs of the park are stunning the ubiquitous image distracts from the viewers own examination of the natural wonders. There is a tension between wanting to document natural wonders and turning the changing natural wonder into a two dimensional commodity.