Arc of Total Eclipse February 26, 1979 (detail) Sarah Charlesworth, 1979
This is a detail of Sarah Charlesworth’s piece Arc of Total Eclipse, February 26, 1979. The work is a collection of 29 black and white prints reproduced in the same size as the original newspapers, varying sizes, approximately 16″ x 22″ each.
The artist’s website describes the work as follows: “[Arc of Total Eclipse, February 26, 1979] Reproduces newspapers from each town along the geographical arc of a total eclipse from the Pacific Northwest arching up through Canada toward Greenland. All text deleted. Shows each town’s representation of the eclipse as viewed from their locale. The prints are shown in geographical order.”
I saw this work just before leaving for California two weeks ago, and have thought of it several times since. The simpleness appeals to me. I find there to be something wonderful about the sublime awe of a total eclipse viewed and remembered through the front pages of local newspapers, the gesture of presenting them in geographical sequence, and the removal of all text.
Like the Paul Sietsema work, I am interested in how the presentation of the Charlesworth’s prints is referential to the news paper as an object. And in her case, an object that directs us to a particular community and location, with a particular standpoint. In this piece, that is done through scale, and through the inclusion of newspaper’s title on each print.
To see all 29 prints in person you can visit the Whitney Museum’s Singular Visions exhibition. Or view the work online at sarahcharlesworth.net
