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Home › Stories › David Taylor: DeLIMITations

David Taylor: DeLIMITations

May 23, 2019
Placing an Obelisk at Fremont Pass, north of Leadville, CO, from the project DeLIMITations, 2014-16 David Taylor and Marcos Ramírez ERRE

UA School of Art Professor David Taylor and Mexican artist Marcos Ramírez ERRE have received national attention for their collaborative project, DeLIMITations, an examination of the nature and history of borders, seen at The Photography Show, one of the world’s most prestigious annual photography fairs (April 4-7), and currently on view at Rick Wester Fine Art in New York City, through June 1.

Prior to the exhibition in New York, the duo’s project toured widely and was featured in Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times, which detailed their 30-day marathon to place 47 six-foot-six-inch obelisks along the original 1821 U.S.-Mexico border and then the resulting exhibition based on that experience.

The completed work may well be among the most expansive installation art pieces ever conceived.

“One thing that we found really fascinating,” Taylor told Time, “was going to places like Medicine Bow, Wyoming, which would have been a border town. People had no concept of the fact that Mexico stretched that far north.”

Following a year of preparation, markers were placed in the summer 2014. Frequently the artists are asked if the markers still remain where they were installed.

“We can’t know,” Taylor writes on the DeLIMITations blog. “That was part of the plan. Borders move and change.”

DeLIMITations Photos | NYT 2019 review | LA Times 2016 feature | Time 2014 feature

The exhibition, consisting of ERRE and Taylor’s photography, objects and other documentation, was reviewed on May 16 in the New York Times by Jillian Steinhauer, who covers the intersection of art and politics.

“(The obelisks) monumentalize the transitory nature of the border, driving home its arbitrariness and bureaucracy,” she wrote. “The pictures showcase a landscape whose recesses and vistas contain the invisible truths of history, and encourage us to go out in search of them.”

The 2400-mile long site-specific installation project was originally commissioned by SITE Santa Fe for the 2014 exhibition Sitelines. The gallery exhibition, which documents that intervention, has since been shown at venues that include the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; the Museo de las Artes Universidad de Guadalajara; the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington and Oficina de Proyectos Culturales in Puerto Vallarta.

Taylor previously documented all of the obelisks that mark contemporary U.S.-Mexico border in a photographic series, Monuments: 276 Views of the United States – Mexico Border, from 2008 to 2015.

Most recently, Taylor has been awarded a residency at the prestigious La Tallera – Proyecto Siqueiros in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where he will embark upon new work.


Dig Deeper: Learn more about the DeLIMITations exhibition from the Rick Wester Fine Art website, including a treasure trove of photos from the gallery and the field. Check it out! 

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University of Arizona School of Art with Arizona Arts at University of Arizona School of Art.
1 day ago
University of Arizona School of Art

We're so proud of all of our 2022 graduates! This one holds a special spot in our hearts. ❤️

Lauren Paun is graduating with her BFA in Art & Visual Culture Education (emphasis on Community and Museums) and 3D Art. She has been a student employee in the School of Art for two years, working with our social media accounts. You might have talked to her about being featured here! Lauren has been an integral part of our team, doing a lot of heavy lifting to find the fabulous work y'all are creating and sharing it here.

"I would just like to say how grateful I am for the opportunity to have had such an incredible position within the School of Art; I loved supporting and promoting the amazing artists that attend this school and feel so lucky to be able to learn and create beside them. I have loved every minute working here for the past two years and we'll miss it terribly-- but I am so excited to continue my journey and pursue my career in museums. A special thank you to my friends, family, professors, and supervisors for the constant love and support!!"

We could fill encyclopedias with praise for Lauren but hopefully this small note of gratitude can be enough. Good luck!! 🥺😭
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Were so proud of all of our 2022 graduates! This one holds a special spot in our hearts. ❤️

Lauren Paun is graduating with her BFA in Art & Visual Culture Education (emphasis on Community and Museums) and 3D Art. She has been a student employee in the School of Art for two years, working with our social media accounts. You might have talked to her about being featured here! Lauren has been an integral part of our team, doing a lot of heavy lifting to find the fabulous work yall are creating and sharing it here. 

I would just like to say how grateful I am for the opportunity to have had such an incredible position within the School of Art; I loved supporting and promoting the amazing artists that attend this school and feel so lucky to be able to learn and create beside them. I have loved every minute working here for the past two years and well miss it terribly-- but I am so excited to continue my journey and pursue my career in museums. A special thank you to my friends, family, professors, and supervisors for the constant love and support!!

We could fill encyclopedias with praise for Lauren but hopefully this small note of gratitude can be enough. Good luck!! 🥺😭Image attachmentImage attachment+4Image attachment
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Congrats, Lauren!! 🙌💐

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University of Arizona School of Art with Arizona Arts at University of Arizona School of Art.
1 week ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Graduation celebrations continue! Let's hear it for one of our newest PhDs, Kasey Stuart! 🎓

"I'm Kasey Stuart and I am graduating with my PhD in Art History and Education. My research explores and questions preservice teachers' reliance upon social media as a resource for lesson plans. Currently, I am developing a program to help art educators critically analyze and amend lesson plans found online before they have brought into K-12 classrooms."

Thank you for doing this critical work that keeps teachers relevant to their students, while also making sure they are intentional and accurate!
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Graduation celebrations continue! Lets hear it for one of our newest PhDs, Kasey Stuart! 🎓

Im Kasey Stuart and I am graduating with my PhD in Art History and Education. My research explores and questions preservice teachers reliance upon social media as a resource for lesson plans. Currently, I am developing a program to help art educators critically analyze and amend lesson plans found online before they have brought into K-12 classrooms.

Thank you for doing this critical work that keeps teachers relevant to their students, while also making sure they are intentional and accurate!Image attachment
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Congrats to Kasey!

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University of Arizona School of Art is at University of Arizona School of Art.
1 week ago
University of Arizona School of Art

We are so glad to see everyone enjoying the incredible work done by our MFA graduates in the 2022 MFA Show! Featured in the @uazmuseumofart is Venessa Ball and her intricate project titled Crosscut: Mining and domesticity, creating a life in spite of and because of the mine.

“As a mining state, Arizona is among the leading producers of copper in the United States.
These large operations required an extensive workforce, from laborers, to geologists, engineers, and company representatives. The mine would often provide housing, schoolhouses and
gathering spaces in the surrounding area, creating an entire town owned by the company itself. Like so many other small communities in America these “boomtown” economies were built on what they believed to be stable and consistent growth. Should the ore deposit run out or the company no longer have the funds to dig any deeper, what then happens to the community? What should also happen if the very commodity the mine needs to keep going just happens to be right under the ground on which they built the town? If you ask the former townspeople of Ray-Sonora, AZ… there is no more town. In 1966, their town was demolished to continue the mine operations.
Thirty years after Ray-Sonora was removed from the map, in 1996, the Magma Copper mine where my father and grandfather worked for decades—and that had provided so much stability for my family—officially closed, because it was deemed too costly to continue operations.
The only way my father could continue his career in mining was to relocate his family to another mining town. This wouldn’t be the last time this happened in my childhood. Chasing the ore was my father’s way of ensuring our family always had a stable and comfortable life.
The delicate patterns cut from family and historical photographs highlight the tension often felt by my family and so many mining families as they attempted to build a life in the shadow of a brutal and unstable industry, dependent on an unsympathetic capitalist economy.” - @venessaball
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We are so glad to see everyone enjoying the incredible work done by our MFA graduates in the 2022 MFA Show! Featured in the @uazmuseumofart is Venessa Ball and her intricate project titled Crosscut: Mining and domesticity, creating a life in spite of and because of the mine.

“As a mining state, Arizona is among the leading producers of copper in the United States. 
These large operations required an extensive workforce, from laborers, to geologists, engineers, and company representatives. The mine would often provide housing, schoolhouses and
gathering spaces in the surrounding area, creating an entire town owned by the company itself. Like so many other small communities in America these “boomtown” economies were built on what they believed to be stable and consistent growth. Should the ore deposit run out or the company no longer have the funds to dig any deeper, what then happens to the community? What should also happen if the very commodity the mine needs to keep going just happens to be right under the ground on which they built the town? If you ask the former townspeople of Ray-Sonora, AZ… there is no more town. In 1966, their town was demolished to continue the mine operations. 
Thirty years after Ray-Sonora was removed from the map, in 1996, the Magma Copper mine where my father and grandfather worked for decades—and that had provided so much stability for my family—officially closed, because it was deemed too costly to continue operations. 
The only way my father could continue his career in mining was to relocate his family to another mining town. This wouldn’t be the last time this happened in my childhood. Chasing the ore was my father’s way of ensuring our family always had a stable and comfortable life.
The delicate patterns cut from family and historical photographs highlight the tension often felt by my family and so many mining families as they attempted to build a life in the shadow of a brutal and unstable industry, dependent on an unsympathetic capitalist economy.” - @venessaballImage attachmentImage attachment+6Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art is at University of Arizona School of Art.
3 weeks ago
University of Arizona School of Art

“Small. Confused. And in Awe.”

In case you haven’t had the chance to see it yet, the 2022 MFA Exhibition is featuring this incredible body of work created by Florence Von Grote! The illustrations are based on treasured memories from the places Florence has lived. The little animals are stand-in protagonists inhabiting, exploring and experiencing dream-based worlds.

“Small. Confused. And in Awe. is based on memories of the places I have lived. Events, people, and places are contorted and blended together into a half-imagined/half-remembered architecture. The nod to children’s book illustration invites the viewer to blur the boundaries between animal and human, reality and imagination.” - @flovong

Featured images are:
Traveler
Progress photo
Cartographer
Gardener
Loiterer
Collector

We urge you to check out Florence’s amazing work in the @uazmuseumofart before the show ends on May 14!
... See MoreSee Less

“Small. Confused. And in Awe.” 

In case you haven’t had the chance to see it yet, the 2022 MFA Exhibition is featuring this incredible body of work created by Florence Von Grote! The illustrations are based on treasured memories from the places Florence has lived. The little animals are stand-in protagonists inhabiting, exploring and experiencing dream-based worlds. 

“Small. Confused. And in Awe. is based on memories of the places I have lived. Events, people, and places are contorted and blended together into a half-imagined/half-remembered architecture. The nod to children’s book illustration invites the viewer to blur the boundaries between animal and human, reality and imagination.” - @flovong 

Featured images are:
Traveler
Progress photo
Cartographer
Gardener
Loiterer
Collector

We urge you to check out Florence’s amazing work in the @uazmuseumofart before the show ends on May 14!Image attachmentImage attachment+3Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art is at University of Arizona School of Art.
3 weeks ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Need plans for tomorrow? Join us Friday (4/29) from 5-7PM at the Graduate Gallery for The Soft Lines exhibition!

Soft Lines is a class exhibition for Art504 Soft Installation instructed by Angie Zielenski.

See you there!!👋
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Need plans for tomorrow? Join us Friday (4/29) from 5-7PM at the Graduate Gallery for The Soft Lines exhibition! 

Soft Lines is a class exhibition for Art504 Soft Installation instructed by Angie Zielenski. 

See you there!!👋
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University of Arizona School of Art is at University of Arizona School of Art.
3 weeks ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Our future Art and Visual Culture educators invite you to join them for the 2022 Wildcat Art Exhibition and Reception this coming Saturday (4/30) from 10AM to 12PM in the Lionel Rombach Gallery!🎉

Wildcat Art is a non-profit, student-led program offered by the Art & Visual Culture Education program at the University of Arizona School of Art. Now in its 27th year, Wildcat Art serves the Tucson community while providing hands-on teaching experience for advanced undergraduate and graduate art education students.

The exhibition features selected works by local K-12 students created during art lessons developed and taught by Art & Visual Culture Education undergraduate students. This year’s theme explored the community of Tucson through environmental and cultural history and identity. The exhibition includes paintings, collages, embroidery, clay works, and drawings.🌵

We hope to see you there!!
... See MoreSee Less

Our future Art and Visual Culture educators invite you to join them for the 2022 Wildcat Art Exhibition and Reception this coming Saturday (4/30) from 10AM to 12PM in the Lionel Rombach Gallery!🎉

Wildcat Art is a non-profit, student-led program offered by the Art & Visual Culture Education program at the University of Arizona School of Art. Now in its 27th year, Wildcat Art serves the Tucson community while providing hands-on teaching experience for advanced undergraduate and graduate art education students.

The exhibition features selected works by local K-12 students created during art lessons developed and taught by Art & Visual Culture Education undergraduate students. This year’s theme explored the community of Tucson through environmental and cultural history and identity. The exhibition includes paintings, collages, embroidery, clay works, and drawings.🌵

We hope to see you there!!Image attachmentImage attachment
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