2012
Epson Ultrachrome K3inkset on Canson Infinity Baryta Photographique paper
11 x 16 1/2 in
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
MH 2014.41.3
Gift of Marilyn and Wilson S. Mathias

This photograph joins two of von Sternberg’s chief fixations: humankind’s invasion of the natural world, and that distinctly American form of tourism—the road trip. Ventura is about sixty miles from his native Los Angeles County (a rich source of inspiration), on the disputed cusp between Southern California and the Central Coast. The gas station is obviously not a destination or attraction, and there is nothing distinct about this one in particular. Yet road trips require stopping to refuel. Within the vast plurality of road trip experiences, the gas station may be the only constant. This is true regardless of how little reflection the traveler gives these stops, however little they factor into the road trip as experienced and remembered. Here, von Sternberg not only draws attention to a “non-place,” a “non-experience,” but also highlights its significance through his use of light. The station is shrouded in darkness, the apparent sole source of light for some distance, a beacon or oasis, which nonetheless only seems to illuminate itself. This aesthetic choice creates humor through unlikely juxtaposition, the boring made grandiose. Like so much of the best comedy, however, what appears to be a simple joke gives way to something more unsettling and provocative. From this provocation, the human-versus-nature subtext that runs through von Sternberg’s work emerges: Silvas Oil Company Station, Ventura is a damning reminder of society’s relationship with fossil fuels. While their environmental consequences are vast, we experience them as a mundane necessity, unworthy of a second thought.

-Ethan Spielman


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