Artwork of the Week: April 14
“From a very young age I found gas stations to be fascinating places for a myriad of reasons. . . I love the grease encrusted tools, the polished steel of pneumatic lifts, the smell of lubricants and gas fumes, and became intoxicated with the inherent visual culture of the place.”
—Jeff Brouws
There is something eerie about scenes—like this one—from Jeff Brouws’ series Best Buy: Fifteen Photographs of the Franchised Landscape 1997-2009. Typically devoid of human figures, the images are full of familiar sights from modern American life: cars, highways, gas stations, fast-food restaurants. It is almost as though we are missing, perhaps absent because of an unknown calamity—but our inglorious handiwork is left behind. Bright, illuminated signs fill this recognizable world made uncanny through the camera’s cold, passive view. Denny’s, McDonald’s, and Super 8 Motel all proclaiming their presence like flags planted to claim territory.
There is nothing inherently bad in any of these views; no overt moralizing about industry or American capital in these photographs, which are surprisingly beautiful considering their common subjects. Still, it is not easy to say for certain whether Brouws’ uncompromising focus on everyday scenery is meant to glorify or condemn the ways we have collectively built, adjusted, and used the natural inheritance of the American landscape.
