I finished these up while working on the artist presentation:
Tim Portlock, Unrivaled:
1) Immediate Response
Unrivaled is striking in its lifelike nature, which can mostly be attributed to the golden sunrise light cascading into frame from the east, reflecting off of the windows of the main subject: the mirror building. I am struck by the juxtaposition of the lush natural landscape on top of the building, and the industrial landscape surrounding it. There are three bison standing in the bottom half of the frame, suggesting a long-gone landscape which these structures now dominate. What puzzles me is the decaying building on the right side of the frame. Is this foreshadowing an imminent destruction and transition into a post-industrial world, one where nature takes back the landscape which has been stolen from her? I think that this piece is commenting on the tension between the natural landscape and the human-engineered environments which sit atop it. I am drawn to the creatures that are so small within the frame, but seem much more dominant than the skyscrapers which flank them. In my eyes, they create the most tension and bring these messages to the forefront of my mind.
2) Objective Description
There are three mirrored skyscraper buildings within the frame, with the building closest to the viewer hosting a forest atop its roof. The forest is host to a lively landscape of trees, deer, rock formations and three bison which stand in the right hand, bottom corner of the piece. To the right side of the main mirror building is a decaying urban structure. A golden sunrise glow reflects off of the building fronts, begging the viewer to just turn their head slightly to see the new dawn. The closest building is at a three-quarter view, and reflects heavily on the one behind it. There is a soft cloud formation in the top of the frame, but it is not in the sky. Rather, it is a reflection on yet another skyscraper.
3) Technical Decisions
Designed orientation toward the viewer:
This work is meant to actively engage the viewer. The perspective of this piece suggests that one is positioned in an opposite building, gazing out their window at the cityscape. However, there is a striking lack of human presence here. It almost feels like a ghost town. This begs the viewer to question if this is possibly a post-apocalyptic type of landscape, especially after seeing the decaying building to the east. This is meant to engage the viewer in contemplating the tension between a natural landscape and the structures we manufacture which dominate them.
4) The Work in the World
I liken Portlock’s work to Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals. I see a similarity here in the way that they both critique the effects of industrialization. While Rivera was focused on the impact that the cities’ factories had on deteriorating quality of life for workers, Portlock is more concerned with environmental impacts. Despite being separated by almost a century of time, both artists are all engaging with the urban landscape with the purpose of sending a socially-engaged message to their viewer. This makes me view this work as continuing a critical conversation around urbanization that was started over a hundred years ago, at the turn of industrialization and urban sprawl in the US.
5) The Story it Tells
I believe that the meaning of this work is to critique urban sprawl in US industrial cities, and depict a landscape where nature has taken back its dominance over the skyscrapers and cityscapes we have erected. This is seen in the grandeur of the forests atop the skyscraper at the forefront of the frame, the decaying building to the right side of the frame, as well as the sunrise cascading across the buildings suggesting a “new dawn”. The specific inclusion of bison and deer echo this midwestern landscape. The bison exemplify the idea of a new dominant force ruling over the land. Other viewers may interpret this work as a utopian view of the future, one where nature and urban landscapes live in harmony. I can see how they might arrive at this conclusion based on the beauty of the rooftop forests and mirror buildings, however I believe that the decaying structure which lurks in the background of the piece suggests another narrative.
Just Steps Away:
1) Immediate Response
Just Steps Away is a crushing image of urban destruction. My immediate response is a feeling of grief and of sympathy for what once stood in this landscape, and the people that inhabited it. The lack of humans in the frameWhat I first noticed was the pristine, glimmering building on the right side of the frame. My eyes then flowed to its lush rooftop oasis, and then to the desolate ghost town within the background. I was puzzled by the abandoned construction equipment, but then I surmised that the construction must have stopped because of the disaster that struck this city.
2) Objective Description
Just Steps Away is a 43.25 x 58 rendering of semi-desolate urban landscape from a bird-eye view. There are two main structures which dominate the frame; on the left is an abandoned, graffitied building with the word “terror” prominently written on its rooftop. In direct contrast, we see the right-side building as a beautiful state-of-the-art example of modern architecture, complete with a rooftop oasis. Its mirrored sides reflect an orange sunrise. Surrounding these two buildings are various abandoned, rusted construction equipment and a dusty, barron landscape. There are several other smaller buildings, also incomplete and/or abandoned.
3) Technical Decisions
Context:
This artwork was produced in 2020. Immediately, the desolation of the city and the abandoned, decaying construction projects are reminiscent of the uncertainty and fear of the early pandemic days. The title, Just Steps Away, suggests that tragedy can strike at any moment, anywhere. This once again alludes to the context of early 2020, when the world was turned upside down in fear and unpredictability.
4) The Work in the World
The objects in this artwork are immediately recognizable and relatable to anyone who has been in a city environment. Both of these realities- decay and modernization- exist in almost every city. What Portlock does so masterfully in this artwork is pinning them against one another, forcing the viewer to see both realities at once. This juxtaposition forces the viewer to consider how quickly our seemingly-indestructible worlds can be altered. The buildings which we think of as permanent fixtures in our realities can be reduced to rubble in a moment’s notice.
Portlock’s Just Steps Away is reminiscent of Claude Monet’s, Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare in its critique of rapid industrialization. While Monet depicts the uncertainty of the newly-industrialized Europe through his dark pallet and ominous smoke clouds towering above an anonymous crowd, Portlock depicts a post-industrial ghost town; a faint memory of what once was. Both artists are using their landscape portraits to critique the powerhouse of industrialized society.
5) The Story it Tells
I believe that the meaning of Just Steps Away highlights the dual realities of decay and modernization that exist in all cities. His relatable structure juxtapose one another in every way possible, begging the viewer to place them in their own reality- whether it be within the rubble of Aleppo, Syria or within the gentrification of American cities like Philadelphia, New York City, or Detroit. I arrived at this interpretation by analyzing the opposing structures within the piece, as well as the piece’s title and year of production. The context of this piece greatly influenced my interpretation. Other viewers could see this as a commentary on the 2008 housing market crash and subsequent recession, which halted thousands of urban development projects and left many projects decaying in their unfinished states.