GORDON, Kim
Chronicles Vol. 3
"The tract developments are emulations of utopian communities. Going back to the 1920's utopian cult Kibbo Kift made banners that they took to specific locations of historic, mysterious monuments and natural monument occurances, Silbury Hill, Stonehenge. The real estate developments around Los Angeles are not mysterious but can be branded as such. An escape from the city life, with names that connote a natural preserve, such as Hidden Hills, Golden Valley, Garden Paradise Estates. Even though they all reside within the smog polluted skies that everyone in the Los Angeles basin does, they poke the desire for utopian living in nature, a simpler time. How to forget about technology, automation and the consequences of our hyper technological age. The signage is placed outside the entrance like the banners of Kibbo Kift, which they would make and bring ceremoniously to these natural or historic places. If one meditates on it maybe it will become real, transposing the desire for escape and living unfettered in paradise, 'getting back to the garden...' as Joni Mitchell would say."
—Kim Gordon
Chronicles Vol. 3 combines Kim Gordon's Real Estate Paintings with staged canvases photographed by Josephine Pryde in vacant apartments and offices in and around Kriens and Lucerne. The photos, which were taken using purely analog technology, create a disturbing and enraptured atmosphere.
Published on the occasion of the exhibition, Kim Gordon for Design Office Feat. In-House Photography by Josephine Pryde, at Museum im Bellpark, Kriens, in 2022.
[publisher's note]
Published by Nieves, 2022
Monographs