John Divola: Continuity

Santa Monica: Smart Art Press/Ram Publications, 1997. First Edition. Softcover. New. New copy. First Edition. 72 pages, Softcover, 10 x 12 inches, 1997. ISBN #0963078542. The creation of seamless illusion without jarring disruptions of cinematic space or time remains the driving tenet of Hollywood cinema. The preservation of this order, called "continuity," is John Divola’s focus in this striking book. Divola creates haunting installations of fictive reality through his use of original still photographs of Warner Bros. film sets from the 1930s which he has collected. Divided into such subject categories as "Hallways," "Broken Furniture," and "Evidence of Aggression," these images display a glorious formal beauty (made possible by the use of 8 x 10 negatives) as well as the solid intellectual grounding one finds in the best conceptual art. Essay by Edward Dimendberg.