In every print edition, topos publish a Big Picture that is particularly impressive because of its aesthetics and the message behind it. topos 107 is showing John Gerrard’s installation “Western Flag” in the desert of the Coachella Valley.

Destruction. Suffering. Death. These are the associations that come to mind when watching the art installation “Western Flag” by John Gerrard. Located in the desert of Coachella Valley, the staggering beauty of the surroundings doesn’t let spectators shake the uneasy feeling that creeps up their spine.

The installation consisting of an LED-wall instantaneously evokes negative emotions. It shows a digitally generated live stream of a flagpole that emits black smoke cumulating in a cloudy, black flag. The flag is situated at the “Lucas Gusher,” which is the site of the world’s first major oil find: the 1901 Spindletop. Over the course of nine days after its discovery, millions of liters of oil a day blew into the sky before it came under control. It marked the beginning of the petroleum age.

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Now, over a century later, we are struggling with the consequences of that golden era. With a change of state of matter from liquid to gas, Gerrard mirrors the oil find to draw attention and give visibility to the never-ending stream of carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere every day – and the fact that it is nowhere near under control.

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The Big Picture for the installation “Western Flag” can be found in topos 107.

Motorways represent the promise of permanent mobility like no other infrastructural element. At the same time they also create a barrier: The divided landscape is turned into a peripheral phenomenon – a blurred image that becomes secondary to the all-important wish to rush forward. Perception within this space of rapidity is changed completely, and becomes very particular. This becomes especially clear when something unexpected appears; an obstacle. And this is exactly what artists Anna Borgman and Candy Lenk have done along a motorway in Denmark – installed a meteorite-like structure that serves as a “barrier in the barrier”.

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And lo and behold, other things suddenly come to the fore again, and the speed-oriented space becomes a space in the landscape once again. The installation is part of a series entitled Wurf (throw). The two artists placed the boulder, which actually consists of a wooden frame covered in cellulose fibre, in various places in order to get people to explain the irritation they feel upon observing such an unexpected situation.

Read more in our current 99th Topos magazine