Cycling Claremont: The Only Good...

Death Valley 2009

A few years ago, while traipsing around Death Valley, we came upon the ruined hulks of old automobiles and trucks. They had this amazing patina of decomposition about them. I snapped some photos and thought they would make for an interesting photo exhibition. I recalled the old racist slogan, "the only good Indian is a dead Indian*" and reinvented it as "the only good car is a dead car." I pictured images of rusted autos out in the middle of nowhere, stacked up in junk yards, torn apart by the jaws of life, or like the one below, repurposed.

The installation "Sam Falls, Untitled (Life in California) 2014" (the Ford Ranger made over as a planter) is a part of the exhibit "Project Series 49: Sam Falls" at the Pomona College Museum of Art. The Sam Falls exhibit is only one on display at the Museum; another of interest is "Petrochemical America", a collaborative effort between photographer Richard Misrach and landscape architect Kate Orff, which examines the industrial landscape of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, so-called "Cancer Alley".

The Museum reopens on September 2nd following the Summer break, but Thursday, September 4th from 5:00 to 11:00 will mark the beginning of a new season of Art After Hours, and is a great opportunity to see the exhibits and visit the museum. Music, ice cream sunday bar, raffles and prizes round out the evening. Get your lights charged up and ride on over. There is no admission fee to the Museum.

*the pop version of what General Phillip H. Sheridan is reported to have actually said: "The only good Indians I ever saw were dead." He denied making the statement.