This Land

This Land is a large-scale collage by David Opdyke that satirizes the American Dream and the reality of climate change. It is made up of over 500 vintage American postcards, which the artist has altered with painted interventions to show scenes and vignettes of idealized Americana. The human responses to the changing environment range from desires and demands to panic and denial. The book features introductory essays, thematic essays, and an afterword by civil rights attorney Maya Wiley. The jacket of the book is printed on both sides, folding out to reveal the work in its full grandeur.

Format: Hardback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 27 October 2020
Publisher: Monacelli Press

This Land is a colossal collage created by New York artist David Opdyke, composed of vintage American postcards that he has transformed with unsettling painted interventions. Initially appearing as a sweeping bird's-eye view of an idyllic alpine valley, upon closer inspection, it reveals itself as a collection of interconnected scenes and vignettes. Spanning over five hundred postcards, each depicting a distinct slice of idealized Americana (town squares, mountain highways, main streets, and county seats), Opdyke's caustic, emotionally jarring alterations gradually become apparent. In this prophetic reimagining, forests are ablaze, tornadoes twist from one card to the next, a steamboat is swallowed whole by some mysterious new megafauna, and frogs fall like Biblical hail from the sky. The human responses form a cacophony of desires and demands, panic and denial. Biplanes trail banners urging "Repent Now!", while others insist that "Legislative Action Would Be Premature," and still, others advertise seats on an actual Ark.

The book, This Land, offers readers a closer and closer glimpse into Opdyke's devastatingly sardonic take on our impending ecological future, one that is enlivened by Lawrence Weschler's vividly sly blend of artist profile and critical interpretation. The book includes introductory essays providing background on the artist and the project as a whole, dividing the sprawling mural into eight sections to allow for a more intimate viewing. Interspersed among the detailed visual sections are insightful thematic essays by Lawrence Weschler, as well as an afterword.

Weight: 650g
Dimension: 164 x 238 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781580935562