2004.20.A-D Lothar Baumgarten, "I like it better here than in Westphalia," Eldorado 1968-1976

Using three slide projectors, a multi-layered sound recording, and 187 slides, Lothar Baumgarten has created a tour of what appears to be a primeval paradise. Slow yet cinematic, the work plays on the intersection between nature and culture via the depiction of landscape. As the idyllic gives way to the analytic, incongruous details show themselves in the sequential changing images: certain geometric objects and even plastics emerge in this supposedly untouched realm. Finally, the sound of a jet flying overhead destroys any sense of remoteness and confirms that the landscape is much closer to "civilization." In reality, the "exotic" locale is an industrial wasteland surrounding Düsseldorf airport, transformed by Baumgarten into a rendering of a completely fabricated, natural world.

Charles Wylie, DMA unpublished material, 2004.

Until 2004: Lothar Baumgarten (b. 1944)

2004: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased through Marian Goodman Gallery, New York [1]

[1] See the copy of the invoice dated May 27, 2004 in the Collections Records object file (2004.20.A-D).

Apply to objects where number equals 2004.20.A-D