Indestructible Wonder, April 18, 2016 - January 29, 2017, Second Floor, Central and North Galleries, San José Museum of Art.

Variations on a Theme, May 23, 2009 - February 7, 2010, New Wing, Second Floor, Central Skylight Gallery, San José Museum of Art. (Included in Part II: August 1, 2009-February 7, 2010.)

Variations on a Theme (2009-2010)

The Bingham Canyon copper mine, located in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City, is the largest man-made excavation on the planet, reaching more than half a mile deep and three miles wide. The mine’s Garfield smelter stack is the tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi River. Through his typical aerial views, Light depicts man’s incursion upon the land, capturing both the lowest and highest man-made points in the West. The photographs are collected into a large book format that gives viewers a sense of the vast landscape being illustrated. Light shot this entire portfolio during the course of a single afternoon helicopter flight.


Indestructible Wonder (2016-2017)

Michael Light is a photographer who also makes artist’s books. A pilot himself, he takes aerial views of settled and unsettled landscapes of the American West to examine environmental exploitation. To create Bingham Mine/Garfield Stack 04.21.06, Light photographed, in the course of a single afternoon, the expanse of the Bingham Canyon Mine, located southwest of Salt Lake City. Designated a national historic landmark in 1966, the copper mine is the largest man-made excavation on the planet, reaching more than half a mile deep and three miles wide. The mine’s Garfield smelter stack, which disperses exhaust gases from metal extraction processes, is the tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi River. Presented in a large-format photography book, Light’s images subtly reveal a geologic history of the United States that is as much about exploitation as it is about preservation.

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

• Variations on a Theme San Jose Museum of Art , 5/23/2009 - 2/7/2010

• Image Dimensions: 40 x 50 in. (101.6 x 127 cm)

This object has the following bibliographic references:

• Some Dry Place. Some Dry Place Nevada Museum of Art. Reno, Nevada, 2008
  Page Number: 48

This object is a member of the following portfolios: