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展期：2023年6月24日 -2023年7月31日
欧文斯河谷位于美国加州东部，高山融雪汇集成欧文斯河。自19世纪末开始，来自洛杉矶的商人以购买土地的方式逐渐控制了整个欧文斯河谷的水源。而后，引水渠建成，河流掉头向西，流入蓬勃发展的洛杉矶。随之而来，便是下游流域以农牧业为生的原住民的集体破产，抗议和冲突不断，担心供水稳定的开发者向流域中的圣弗朗西斯水坝中超量注水，引发溃坝，致数千人丧生。时间来到70年代，干涸许久的下游湖泊最终成为加州最大的沙尘暴沙源地，环境治理在无穷无尽的利益斗争中艰难展开。如今，和大多数此类始乱终弃的故事类似，下游的农牧业居民早已搬离了这里，下游的农场和城镇也变成旅游景区，招待着来自洛杉矶城渴望美国西部风景的充满好奇心的背包客们。
选自《There it is, take it》系列There it is, take It Series
曜植也曾是这些背包客中的一员，但他所看到的不仅仅是这些加州沙漠中荒凉的风景，在山谷里寻找的也不是那些为了逃离城市阴影，呼吸自然空气的疗愈。自2019年起，他便持续拍摄这一地域，同时也展开了丰富史料收集和研究，最终形成了这一系列作品。在他的创作中，身体力行的拍摄考察和卷帙浩繁的史料研究并行展开，冷峻的照片和泛黄的档案为我们还原了一个由欲望和掠夺交织而成的在荒凉沙漠上的西部往事。本次展览也通过五个章节五十余幅照片和档案材料，去呈现围绕着欧文斯河谷百年间的资源斗争：从洛杉矶水电局每年冬季开始的降雪调查到引水渠的建设和今日状况，百年间围绕着水源和土地归属的争夺，圣弗朗西斯水坝的溃破，资本与权力的剥削，以及和今日洛杉矶和欧文斯谷的现状。
选自《There it is, take it》系列There it is, take It Series
在曜植曾经生活的洛杉矶，几乎没有人会想到这是一个在沙漠和戈壁包围中的城市，被人造河流围绕着的高档住宅区，随意喷淋的草坪和花园，任意地使用资源在这里似乎是一种正确的生活范式。而在曜植的镜头之下，我们看到了在花洒和水龙头的另外一侧，那些仿佛赘生物的巨大管路，被水泥驯服的河道，高耸的水坝以及水泵基站，它们被围栏和铁丝网保护起来，被贴上宣示着所属和禁止入内的标签。曜植的拍摄避开了人，他呈现的是冰冷的，等待着被诉说和阐释的物。它们沉默地伫立在荒原上，构成一个巨大的象征着欲望的系统。而在这个庞大的系统背后，历史的幽灵一直在盘旋，河谷中的废弃的农场，当年喧嚣的抗议集会地，山谷中溃坝的废墟。它们始终在提醒人们，这些创伤尚未得到真正的承认，他们将在每一次沙尘暴灾害和水资源危机中回归。
选自《There it is, take it》系列
There it is, take It Series1913年11月5日，在洛杉矶引水渠开通的仪式上，首席工程师威廉·莫赫兰喊出了那句著名的口号，“There it is，take it.” 这句宣扬着胜利的话语，仿佛道出了资本原始积累中必然的血腥和贪婪，以及弱肉强势的剥削。在其后的百年间，无数次地在欧文斯河谷中回荡。
文/李子健
关于艺术家
刘曜植是一位出生在北京的摄影师，2021年取得加州艺术学院摄影/媒体艺术硕士学位，现在生活工作于纽约。他通过风景摄影和多媒体装置关注城市化、环境变化和保护等主题。
Yaozhi Liu's Solo Exhibition Art Director: Teng QingyunOrganiser: Three Shadows Xiamen Photography Art CentreDuration: Jun 24, 2023 - Jul 31, 2023Opening: Jun 24, 2023 15:00
Venue: 3rd Floor of Building 2, Xinglinwan Business Centre, Jimei District, XiamenThe Owens River Valley is located in the eastern part of California, where snowmelt from the high mountains collects to form the Owens River. Beginning in the late 19th century, businessmen from Los Angeles gradually took control of the entire Owens Valley water supply by purchasing land. Then, the aqueduct was built, and the river turned westward into a booming Los Angeles. This was followed by the collective bankruptcy of the indigenous farming and ranching communities in the lower watershed. Protests and conflicts arose, and the deliberate overfilling of St. Francis Dam by developers concerned about the stability of the water supply resulted in a dam failure that claimed the lives of thousands of people. By the 1970s, the long-dried-up lower lakes had become the largest source of dust storm sand in California, and environmental management struggled in an endless battle of competing interests. Today, similar to many such stories, the downstream farming and ranching population has long since relocated, and the farms and towns downstream have become tourist attractions, attracting curious backpackers from the city of Los Angeles who yearn for the scenery of the American West.
选自《There it is, take it》系列
There it is, take It SeriesYaozhi was once one of these backpackers, but he saw more than just the desolate landscapes of the California desert and sought more than just healing in the valley to escape the shadows of the city and breathe natural air. Since 2019, he has continued to photograph this region while also embarking on extensive historical collection and research, culminating in this series of works. In his work, his physical photographic expeditions and extensive historical research go hand in hand, and his sombre photographs and aged archives resurrect a Western past in the desolate desert, woven together by desire and plunder. Through five chapters comprising over fifty photographs and archival materials, the exhibition presents the century-long struggle for resources that surrounded the Owens Valley: from the annual winter snowfall surveys conducted by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to the construction of the Aqueduct and its current state, the ongoing struggle over water and land ownership, the collapse of St. Francis Dam, the exploitation driven by capital and power, and the current state of Los Angeles and the Owens Valley.选自《There it is, take it》系列
There it is, take It SeriesIn Los Angeles, where Yaozhi used to live, few could have imagined a city surrounded by desert, with upscale residential areas encompassed by man-made rivers, sprayed lawns, and gardens, where using resources at will seemed to be the prevailing paradigm for living. Through Yaozhi's lens, we see beyond the showers and faucets, the massive pipes resembling superfluous creatures, the concrete-tamed rivers, the towering dams, and the pumping stations protected by fences and barbed wire, labelled as private property and off-limits. Yaozhi's shots avoid people, presenting inanimate objects that stand silently in the wilderness, forming a vast system symbolizing desire. And behind this immense system, the ghosts of history continue to hover: the abandoned farms in the river valley, the sites of raucous protest rallies in the past, and the ruins of the dam break in the valley. They serve as a constant reminder that these wounds have not yet been truly acknowledged and healed and that they resurface with every dust storm disaster and water crisis.选自《There it is, take it》系列
There it is, take It SeriesOn November 5th, 1913, at the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, chief engineer William Mulholland shouted the famous slogan, "There it is, take it." This phrase, proclaiming victory, seems to speak of the inevitable bloodshed and greed in the primitive accumulation of capital and the exploitation of the weak by the powerful. It echoed countless times in the Owens Valley over the next hundred years.Liu Yaozhi is a photographer born in Beijing. In 2021, he obtained a master of Fine Art's degree in Photo/Media from the California Institute of the Arts. Currently, he lives and works in New York. He focuses on the topics of urbanization, environmental change and protection by using landscape photography and multi-media installations.
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