Zuma #23 1977

John Divola made Zuma #23, and I'm immediately taken by the drama of the scene. The window, like a proscenium, frames an incredible sky, all hazy and pink, reflected on the sea. I can just imagine Divola, armed with his camera, wandering into this abandoned space. It's decrepit, almost a ruin, yet it's been tagged with these odd, stenciled marks like raindrops that refuse to fall. What was he thinking, setting up his shot? The tension here is palpable, the clash between the gritty reality of the room and the sublime beauty outside. There's a push and pull, a dialogue between decay and hope, between the man-made and the natural world. Divola, like many artists, invites us into a conversation that never quite resolves, a testament to the enduring power of art to provoke, question, and inspire.