SBD Runways, 2009 by Mary Kathleen Shafer
Contender Mary Kathleen Shafer references artist Robert Smithson in her documentation of airfields, over 100 of which she has photographed from both the ground and from up in the air. She writes of Smithson, "he identified the airport as the quintessential earthwork, a stunning example of leaving a longer mark on the land," an idea which made had a great impact on the issues of temporariness that surrounded his own work. Schafer also describes her fascination with "Le Corbusier's ideas about the drama with which the empty horizontal space of airfields meets the verticality of airport facilities and surrounding urbanity". In discussing this, her photographs start to reveal an interesting tension—that between the natural progression of the land and the impact left by man versus the drama and invisible energy of the space not occupied.
Smithson's Spiral Jetty, an meticulously crafted outdoor installation made of mud, salt crystals, basalt rocks, earth and water in 1970, was vulnerable to the forces of weather and simple unpredictability. Built in a lake that was going through a drought at the time of construction, the Jetty found itself submerged once the water rose for almost three decades until 2005. The longevity of earthworks demonstrated that they were threatened by the environment, as well as by human-generated industrialization.
Airports, like Smithson's installation, are highly calculated places that must pay heed to the environment as well as to human impact. Thinking about these images in a present day context, we can also see a certain tension being revealed in what is physically present and the drama of the invisible space. Since 2001, airports have been a point of uneasiness for both the government and citizens. Despite the impressive landscaping and coordination of machinery, airports are seen as sites of national weakness and risk, a vulnerable access point to the safety of the country. Looking at Mary Kathleen's work, we see airfields and their horizons from afar, where all appears to be peaceful and serene, a never ending web of tarmac surrounded by mountains, absent from any this unpleasantness. However, the potential for havoc can always be assumed at airports; the calm and often grandiose landscape cannot stay that way forever.
Miramar #2, 2009 by Mary Kathleen Shafer
View more of Mary Kathleen's work on her website.
Several recent contenders have also featured planes, transportation and airports in their work: Ozant Kamaci and Judith Stenneken.