The Mediated Landscape

Wyoming, Utah, and the greater western American high desert area encompasses constant contradictions. It is a paradise of natural wonder and a land to be utilized for extraction and recreation. The area’s extreme visual beauty and wild dangers perfectly summarize the dual definitions of the sublime.

The influential 16th Century philosopher Edmund Burke stated “terror is in all cases whatsoever … the ruling principle of the sublime”; In recent usage we generally think of the sublime as something beautiful and soothing. In either case, sublimeness brings us closer to something greater than ourselves. I have often felt both terror and peace in this wilderness.