Assignment Three: Landscape and the Imagination of Disaster

This assignment will explore issues of landscape and the tenuous relationship

between nature and civilization.

Create a diorama that considers one of the various means in which disaster looms over Los Angeles in popular fiction and film as outlined by Mike Davis in Ecology of Fear. Working in narrative tableaux, create and photograph a scene that suggests a narrative occurring either during, before, or after a disasterous event.

Your sculptural tableaux might consist of found objects, photographs, models, handmade objects, paper silouhettes, or carefully crafted props. It can be simple or complex, but should be innovative and intriguing. Various library books on model making will be kept in lab tech Lisa Ohlweiler's office and are available for use during times when she is available.

Requirements:

1 print. Seeing as though creating the diorama will take more set up time, students can work individually or with up to two collaborators. It is recommended that, when working in a group, the diorama is kept in the photo lab so that it is easily accessible for everyone to work on it at different times.

Important Dates:

Assignment Due October 18

Open Lab to work on diorama: October 12

Open Lab to shoot or print: October 16 (after Charles Phoenix lecture)