Judy Natal: Future Perfect Collection CAE1214 Introduction/Abstract Judy Natal Future Perfect Future Perfect consists of three photographic suites made in contested sites where human intervention has decidedly affected land use. Materials include journals, contact prints, Polaroid prints, research materials, correspondence, objects, maps, brochures, postcards, stamps, newspaper articles, and exhibition ephemera. Biographical Note: Judy Natal Judy Natal is an Associate Professor of Photography at Columbia College Chicago, and is the author of EarthWords, published in 2004, and Neon Boneyard Las Vegas A-Z, published in 2006.Her photographs are in the permanent public collections of the California Museum of Photography, Center for Creative Photography, the International Museum of Photography and Film at George Eastman House, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, among others. Her work has been exhibited at Projects International and Photograph Gallery in New York City, the Nelson Atkins Museum, Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, D.C., and the Sao Paulo Biennial. Natal has received numerous grants and fellowships including a Fulbright Travel Grant, Illinois Arts Council Photography Fellowships and Polaroid Grants and New York Foundation for the Arts Photography Fellowships. She has also been awarded numerous artist residencies nationally and internationally, that have taken her to Iceland and Biosphere 2 for her work Future Perfect. Most recently, she has been in residence at the Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh working on Uncanny Valley, her current project where she contemplates Utopic, Dystopic and Ecotopic environments. Scope and Content Future Perfect consists of three photographic suites made in contested sites where human intervention has decidedly affected land use: Las Vegas Desert Springs Preserve, where convincingly real nature was built to teach sustainable living in the desert; Biosphere 2 s experimental tracts, designed as a mini earth with five manufactured and manually controlled ecosystems in Oracle, Arizona; and, Iceland s primordial geothermal landscape. The projects move backwards in fictional time from 2040 as they display our hopes, perceptions and misunderstandings of nature, and suggest both the potential and pitfalls of our future on earth. They also describe how central nature can be to our lives, and how hopeful and confused we may be in using, recreating, and changing nature. The photographs are a metaphorical presentation of our future, but also indicate our current intentions within and limitations toward our environment. Materials include journals, contact prints, Polaroid prints, research materials, correspondence, objects, maps, brochures, postcards, stamps, newspaper articles, and exhibition ephemera. Inclusive Dates 1994-2013 Bulk Dates 2008-2012 1
Quantity / Extent 3.25 cubic feet Language English, Danish, French, German, Icelandic Arrangement Judy Natal: Future Perfect is organized into six series: Materials about the artist; a series for each of the preliminary research locations organized by date of first residency or activity; a series about the Future Perfect Project; and, a series devoted to related projects. The materials in series one and six are organized alphabetically, while series two through five are organized by material type. Series 1: Artist Information Series 2: Preliminary Research, Springs Preserve Series 3: Preliminary Research, Biosphere 2 Series 4: Preliminary Research, Iceland Series 5: Future Perfect Series 6: Related Projects Related Publications Alling, Abigail. Life under Glass: The Inside Story of Biosphere 2. Oracle, AZ: Biosphere Press, 1993. Friedman, George. The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21 st Century. New York, NY: Doubleday, 2009. McKibbon, Bill. Eaarth. New York, NY: Time Books, 2010. Morton, Timothy. Hyperobjects. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2013. Natal, Judy. Earthwords. Syracuse, NY: Light Work, 2004. Natal, Judy. Future Perfect: 2040 2030 2020 2010. Self-Published: Blurb, 2011. Natal, Judy. Neon Boneyard: Las Vegas A-Z. Santa Fe, NM: Chicago, IL: Center for American Places in association with Columbia College, 2006. Container Listing by Series: CAE1214/1 Series I: Artist Information, Folders 1-8, 2006 2013 Series 1 contains materials related to the general information about Judy Natal including résumés, correspondence, interviews, blog materials, grant materials, and exhibition ephemera. 2
1-1 Blog, 2010 2011 1-2 Correspondence, 2011 2012 1-3 Exhibitions, 2006 2013 1-4 General Information, 2010 2011 1-5 Grants/Residencies, 2009 2011 1-6 Interviews, 2011 2013 1-7 Presentations, 2010 2013 1-8 Reproduction Requests, 2012 2013 CAE1214/1 Series 1: Additional Materials CAE S-Box 10 1-3#1 Neon Boneyard Las Vegas A-Z Exhibition Announcement 1-7#1 Judy Natal at University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Art & Art History Department Visiting Artist Lecture Announcement CAE S-Box 11 1-5#1 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #1: Future Perfect: Buried Houses 2009 1-5#2 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #2: Future Perfect: Saguaro Brace 2007 1-5#3 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #3: Future Perfect: Ocean Viewing 2008 1-5#4 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #4: Future Perfect: Dead Computer 2008 1-5#5 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #5: Future Perfect: Formula for the Future 2009 1-5#6 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #6: Future Perfect: Palm Oasis 2007 1-5#7 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #7: Future Perfect: Tyvek Suits 2009 1-5#8 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #8: Future Perfect: Rock Suitcase 2009 1-5#9 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #9: Future Perfect: Fallen Palms 2008 1-5#10 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #10: Future Perfect: Mars Mission 2009 1-5#11 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #11: Future Perfect: Built Rock 2007 1-5#12 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #12: Future Perfect: Nature Map 2009 1-5#13 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #13: Future Perfect: Plastic Seal 2008 1-5#14 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #14: Future Perfect: Lava Bubble 2008 1-5#15 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #15: Future Perfect: Geothermal Veins 2009 1-5#16 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #16: Future Perfect: Red Dome 2009 1-5#17 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #17: Future Perfect: Geothermal Waterfall 2008 1-5#18 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #18: Future Perfect: Three Worlds 2009 1-5#19 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #19: Future Perfect: Blue Plastic 2009 1-5#20 Guggenheim Application Proof Print #20: Future Perfect: Geothermal Steam Portrait 2009 CAE1214/2 Series 2: Preliminary Research, Springs Preserve, Folders 1-5, 1994-2007 Series 2 contains materials related to the first site (chronologically speaking) used to create the Future Perfect concept and imagery, the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas Nevada, which opened on June 8, 2007. 2-1 Research & Travel Materials (1 of 3), 1994 2007 2-2 Research & Travel Materials (2 of 3), 2006 2007 2-3 Research & Travel Materials (3 of 3), 2006 2007 2-4 Polaroids, 2007 3
2-5 Proof Prints, 2007 CAE1214/3 Series 3: Preliminary Research, Biosphere 2, Folders 1-9, 1999 2012 Series 3 contains materials related to the second site (chronologically speaking) used to create the Future Perfect concept and imagery, Biosphere 2, located in Oracle Arizona and currently managed by the University of Arizona. 3-1 Research & Travel Materials, 1999 2007 3-2 Polaroids (1 of 2), 2008 2009 3-3 Polaroids (2 of 2), 2008 2009 3-4 Contact Prints (1 of 5), 2008 2012 3-5 Contact Prints (2 of 5), 2008 2012 3-6 Contact Prints (3 of 5), 2008 2012 3-7 Contact Prints (4 of 5), 2008 2012 3-8 Contact Prints (5 of 5), 2008 2012 3-9 Proof Prints, 2008 2012 CAE1214/4 Series 4: Preliminary Research, Iceland, Folders 1-26, 2008 2012 Series 4 contains materials related to the third site (chronologically speaking) used to create the Future Perfect concept and imagery, Iceland, where Natal had several residencies and has visited each year from 2008-2012. (Although she did make her first visit in 2006, it was for the printing of the book Neon Boneyard: Las Vegas A-Z.) The travel materials are sorted geographically, from the largest to finest sort: General, Regional, and Sub-region or City. 4-1 Travel Logistical Information, 2012 4-2 Journal, 2009 4-3 Icelandic Ephemera, 2012 4-4 Postcard Collages, 2008 CAE Box 54 4-5 General Travel Materials (1 of 3), 2008 2010 4-6 General Travel Materials (2 of 3), 2008 2010 4-7 General Travel Materials (3 of 3), 2008 2010 4-8 West Iceland Travel Materials, 2008 2010 4-9 North Iceland Travel Materials, 2008 2010 4-10 East Iceland Travel Materials, 2008 2010 4-11 South Iceland Travel Materials (1 of 2), 2008 2010 4-12 South Iceland Travel Materials (2 of 2), 2008 2010 4-13 Reykjanes Peninsula Travel Materials, 2008 2010 4-14 Reykjavík & Environs Travel Materials (1 of 3), 2008 2010 4-15 Reykjavík & Environs Travel Materials (2 of 3), 2008 2010 4-16 Reykjavík & Environs Travel Materials (3 of 3), 2008 2010 4-17 Húsavík Travel Materials, 2008 2010 4-18 Polaroids, 2008-2009 4-19 Images Sorted by Location and Date, 2009 4
4-20 Contact Sheets, 2008 CAE Box 55 4-21 Proof Prints (1 of 6), 2008 2012 4-22 Proof Prints (2 of 6), 2008 2012 4-23 Proof Prints (3 of 6), 2008 2012 4-24 Proof Prints (4 of 6), 2008 2012 4-25 Proof Prints (5 of 6), 2008 2012 4-26 Proof Prints (6 of 6), 2008 2012 CAE1214/4 Series 4: Additional Materials CAE Box 48: Objects 4-3#1 Map of Iceland Painted Box, by Kunsang Tsering, 2012 CAE Box 56: Objects 4-3#2 Sewing Threadbone, þráðarleggur, not dated 4-3#3 Sheephorn Sculpture, not dated CAE1214/5 Series 5: Future Perfect, Folders 1-6, 2010 2012 Series 5 contains materials about the project Future Perfect including book drafts, quotes, a bibliography CAE Box 55 5-1 Project Information and Timelines, 2010 2012 5-2 Research Materials (1 of 2), 2010 2012 5-3 Research Materials (2 of 2), 2010 5-4 Bibliography and Quotes, not dated 5-5 Blurb Book Draft and Mockup Pages, 2011 5-6 Future Perfect Book, Spiral Bound, 2011 CAE1214/5 Series 5: Additional Materials CAE Box 48 and 56: Objects 5-1#1 The Cosmos (3 Sculptural pieces, part of the larger sculpture titled The Cosmos.) CAE Flat File F4: Oversized Items 5-1#2 First Timeline of Future Perfect, (B&W) 2010 5-1#3 Second Timeline of Future Perfect, (Color) 2010 Tube Rack: Oversized Items 5-1#4 Natural Disaster Timeline, 6/2006 12/2010 CAE1214/6 Series 6: Related Projects, Folders 1-6, 1997 2011 Series 6 contains materials from other projects loosely related to Future Perfect. Materials include project descriptions, proof prints, and research materials. This series is arranged by project start date. 5
CAE Box 55 6-1 Joshua Tree A-Z, 1999 2001 6-2 Neon Boneyard Las Vegas A-Z, 2003 2006 6-3 Earthwords, 2004 6-4 American Alphabet, 2004 2005 (Folder Materials 1997 2006) 6-5 Astral Projections, 2010-2011 6-6 Eaarth, 2010-2011 CAE1214/6 Series 6: Additional Materials CAE S-Box 11 6-5#1 Astral Projections print on Hygrothermograph Paper, 2010 2011 6