Michael Vahrenwald

Green Slope, Wal-mart, Davenport, IA, 2005

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS

60 x 48 inches

The photographs in the series Universal Default are taken in the empty, outer lying spaces of newly constructed "big box" stores across the United States. Lit by the ambient glow of modern parking lot lights, the borders that separate the empty spaces of agriculture from suburban commercial architecture are illuminated. The camera records an enigmatic and tragic reality that appears fictitious. These highly detailed photographs are taken with 4x5 and 5x7 view cameras. I do not create these landscapes, I document them. My process is a faithful one, recording only what can be seen, there is no digital manipulation involved in these works. The landscapes are a universal phenomenon economically tied to a culture of retail that relies upon new development. My subject is a byproduct of economics, a leftover landscape. My work is strongly indebted by generations of artists before me, especially the American photographers of the 1960’s and 70’s who responded to a need to re-examine the American landscape in a time of political, economic and cultural crisis. The work is not an all-encompassing narrative of “America” but rather a visual or archeological exploration grounded by a conceptual structure.

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