K. Yoland
Border Land Other
Education Guide
Border Land Other is a series of works initiated
during the artist K. Yoland’s four-month artist
residency at Marfa Contemporary in West Texas.
While on the border between Mexico and the
United States, Yoland used video, photography,
sculpture, and performance to investigate sites
of division and restriction.
Yoland made several field excursions to the
borderland, some by herself and others with
border patrol guards, oil industry workers, and
cattle ranchers. On these trips, Yoland observed
the effects of natural and artificial boundaries
upon these different groups.
Shield (Chihuahuan Desert, Texas) 2012. Digital print
Landscape: A term used to classify a painting, drawing, photograph, or other visual depictions of
natural scenery. Figures and man-made objects may be included in a landscape.
Horizon Line
Background
Middleground
Horizon Line: The apparent line
separating earth from sky.
Foreground
Draw Your Own Landscape
Landscapes are comprised of three main
components: foreground, middleground, and
background.
Foreground: A term describing the part of the
composition which appears closest to the
viewer.
Middleground: A term describing the part of the
composition between the foreground and
background.
Background: A term describing the part of the
composition which appears furthest from the
viewer.
Look out your window. What do you see? Draw your own
landscape in the box below. Be sure to include a
foreground, middleground, and background in your work.
What Is a Border?
Border is one of the major themes of this exhibition. The artist takes an in-depth look at the meaning of
border and land.
A border can be defined three ways:
1. A line dividing two areas such as the line officially separating two countries or regions.
2. The edge of an area of land or the ground near the edge.
3. A decorative band that runs along the edge of something such as a printed page or a piece of fabric.
Natural and Artificial Borders
The artist explores the idea of natural and
artificial borders.
Natural: Existing in nature and not made or
caused by people.
Artificial: Created or caused by people.
What borders do you see in the photograph
Red Line through Mountain?
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Red Line through Mountain (Point of Rocks, Texas) 2013. Digital Print.
The pictures to the right are examples of natural and
artificial borders.
Picture 1: The Ohio River. A natural feature of the
landscape, the river marks the boundary between
several U.S. states including Ohio, Kentucky, West
Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois.
Picture 2: The Great Wall of China. It is a man-made
structure constructed over several hundred years to
protect China from neighboring empires. It is nearly
four thousand miles long!
Picture 1
Borders are all around you.
Can you think of three natural borders?
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Can you think of three artificial borders?
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Picture 2
Elements of Art and Principals of Design
Vocabulary of Line
vertical line
dotted line
crosshatched lines
curved line
diagonal line
horizontal line
Invasive Immigrant (Chihuahuan Desert, Texas) 2013. Digital print.
Look closely at the photograph by the artist above. Which types of lines do you see?
___vertical line ___dotted line ___crosshatched lines ___curved line ___diagonal line ___horizontal line
In Zone II the artist uses the principal of
design balance.
Balance is the equal distribution of
visual elements, such as lines, shapes,
and colors, within an image.
In Zone II the artist establishes balance
through symmetry. Symmetry is the
quality where two sides or halves of an
image are identical or almost the same
size, shape, and position.
Zone II (Amboy, California) 2012. Digital print.
Create a symmetrical picture using lines and balance.
Land
The photographs in this exhibition were taken
throughout West Texas, which is comprised of
deserts, mountains, plateaus, plains, and canyons.
It is a rural landscape. An urban landscape refers
to a city or town.
The artist’s photographs and videos show people
interacting with the land around them.
How do you interact with the land where you live?
- Do you climb trees?
- Do you play in your backyard?
- Do you have a garden or plant flowers?
Compare and contrast the two photographs
Herding Cattle and Semi-televised.
What is the same? What is different?
Can you find at least two things that are the same?
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Can you find at least two things that are different?
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A farmhouse is an example of a rural
landscape.
Herding Cattle (Chihuahuan Desert, Texas)
2014. Digital print.
Downtown Oklahoma City is an example
of an urban landscape.
Do you live in a rural or urban landscape?
How are the landscapes in this exhibition different
from or the same as where you live? Write down
your thoughts.
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Semi-televised (Chihuahuan Desert, Texas)
2014. Digital print.
Experience public art at NW 11th and Broadway
3000 General Pershing Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73107
www.oklahomacontemp.org
Orly Genger
Terra
10/20/14 - 10/2/215