Kristin Posehn
California, USA, 1978
The American artist Kristin Posehn stumbled upon the ruin of the city Metropolis in Nevada, USA, during a residency at the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Los Angeles. This city was founded in 1911 by the Pacific Reclamation Company and was to house 7500 residents. As a means of attracting people to settle in Metropolis, the Pacific Reclamation Company published, amongst other things, brochures, advertisements and a promotional newspaper filled with positive stories about the new city. They also built two imposing buildings to be the symbols of the city. One of these buildings was the Lincoln School building.
The Pacific Reclamation Company, however, did not have enough rights over the water that had to be redirected to the dry city of Metropolis in order to establish agriculture. The company went bankrupt. After a short but intense period of growth, the city was abandoned in the 1950s. All the city’s buildings are now worn away and the only one remaining is the arch of the imposing school’s façade.
In large-scale sculptural projects, Kristin Posehn makes trompe l’oeil replicas of buildings or architectural objects in the landscape by using wooden constructions and detailed photos. After the Metropolis ruin was discovered, she thought of a plan to create a replica of it as well. During her post-academic study at the Jan van Eyck academy in Maastricht, the city of Almere was brought to her attention. There she found a suitable location for her plans to be developed further.
The parallels between Metropolis and the new town of Almere, that in its own way struggles with water, give the location deeper meaning.
Comments
