David J Taylor

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Scholarly Contributions

Books

• Taylor, D. J., Carter, C. C., Arreola, D. D., Fox, W. L., & Senf, R. (2015). Monuments: 276 Views of the United States-Mexico Border. Radius Books and the Nevada Musuem of Art.
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  276 Views of the United States - Mexico BorderCopublished by Radius Book and the Nevada Musuem of Art Photographs by David Taylor Essays by Daniel D. Arreola, Claire C. Carter and William L. FoxIn 2007, Arizona artist David Taylor began photographing the monuments that mark the border between Mexico and the United States. His intent was to document each of the 276 obelisks installed by the International Boundary Commission following the Mexican/American War. The monuments describe the border as it extends west, from El Paso/Juarez to Tijuana/San Diego, through highly populated urban areas and some of the most remote expanses of Chihuahuan and Sonoran desert. They are, in fact, situated in both Mexico and the United States simultaneously.His contemporary documentation is reflective of a survey conducted by the photographer D.R. Payne between 1891 and 1895 under the auspices of the Boundary Commission (now the International Boundary and Water Commission or IBWC). While many people have photographed the border, there hasn’t been a full documentation of the monuments in more than 100 years. In the 1980s, Robert Humphrey re-photographed many of them as part of a project that examined vegetation change in desert ecosystems. The original images of the border monuments made by Payne in the 1890s functioned as the baseline for location in Humphrey's work. Payne’s documentation was political in its intent, and Humphrey’s was environmental. Building on their legacies, Taylor’s motivations for re-photographing the border markers include environmental and human rights issues, and an examination of our contemporary understanding of borders. Taylor’s series of photographs function as a geographic cross-section of a border in transition. Responses to immigration, narcotrafficking and the imperatives of a post-9/11 security climate prompted more change along the border in the early 2000s than had occurred since the boundary was established. Thus, the completed project exists as a typology, with the incongruous obelisks acting as witness to a shifting national identity as expressed through an altered physical terrain.

Journals/Publications

• Taylor, D. J. (2020). Refuge and Fortification. Places, n/a(n/a), 14. doi:10.22269/201021
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  The U.S./Mexico borderlands are rife with the contradictions and cruelties of global capitalism; they are where commerce flows freely but people do not.Text and Photographs by David Taylor
• Taylor, D. J. (2020). Refugio y fortificación. Arquine, 14.
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  Refugio y fortificaciónpor David Taylor en colaboración con Places JournalLa frontera entre Estados Unidos y México está plagada de las contradicciones y crueldades del capitalismo global; es donde el comercio fluye libremente pero la gente no.
• Taylor, D. J. (2016). Cross Secton. Exposure, Volume(49:1), 9.
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  A journal-length article on the project "Monuments 276 Views of the United States - Mexico Border" to be published in "Exposure" which is the academic journal of the Society for Photographic Education. See attached PDF.
• Taylor, D. J. (2016). The Gray Scale. Places, n/a(n/a), online. doi:https://doi.org/10.22269/160112
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  Text by William L. Fox and photographs by David TaylorThe 276 Boundary Monuments along the U.S.-Mexico border recall a time when the countries were separated by dignified stone sentinels rather than walls, sensors, and cameras.

Presentations

• Taylor, D. J., Huizar Hernandez, A. E., Howe, M. L., & Leyva, Y. C. (2021, April). Title of your panel: Shifting Boundaries, Constructing Border Space and the Criminalization of Immigration. Art/Histories: Migrations, Transculturality & The Idea of Latin America. Online (due to the pandemic): Association of Borerlands Studies.
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  An analysis of the United States-Mexico Borderlands since the conception of the established border of the 1850s—mapping changes in border use, historical reference, border infrastructure/space and immigration policies. In this panel we discuss the early borderlands demarcated by the 1890s Barlow – Blanco Monuments defining the physical location of U.S.-Mexico border. New, border walls have created a “border interval” (the space between wall and monuments) which operates as a new interpretation of the legal border and signals how border space has become more contingent and militarized. This new condition is reflected in current border enforcement policy and the increasingly punitive treatment of migrants. Those dynamics are considered relative to the stories of fronterizos, born around the turn of the 20th century, from which we can understand how physical locations, both built and natural, play a significant role in the creation and remembrance of “borderlanders.” Looking to the immediate present, a collaborative project collects, preserves, and makes public the stories of asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants who have been incarcerated by the U.S. immigration authorities. As a whole, our panel examines: changes in the history of the physical border; how site, location and memory work together; recent border fortification efforts; and the criminalization of undocumented migrants in the U.S.- Mexico borderlands.
• Taylor, D. J. (2020, March). Border, Boundary, Frontier: Marking Change Over Time. Art/Histories: Migrations, Transculturality & The Idea of Latin America. Universität Zürich, Lateinamerika-Zentrum Zürich: International Conference of the Research Group “Art Production and Art Theory in the Age of Global Migration”.
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  A resident of the borderlands, the boundary that delineates Mexico and United States has been a preoccupation for David Taylor over the past decade and a half. He will present his various individual and collaborative projects that reveal the history and contemporary disposition of the Southwest borderlands. Avoiding generalized descriptions, Taylor’s projects engage with place at a granular level and present a complex territory that is frequently marked by contradictory realities. While the border is commonly portrayed as a singular phenomenon, Taylor’s work reveals it as a series of district locations organized around a common feature. The border is entirely dependent on context and derives its meaning from the various circumstances of those who interact with it. Over the last decade the frontier between Mexico and the United States has changed more than in the previous century. Ultimately, Taylor’s work is about how political boundaries are transformed over time and how they can be a product of dynamics far removed from their immediate limits.
• Taylor, D. J., & Ramírez, M. (2019, April). BETWEEN THE LINES: SURVEYING THE ORIGINAL U.S.- MEXICO BORDER. Photography Show presented by AIPAD. New York City: Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD).
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  Presentation and gallery talk at The Photography Show presented by AIPAD, NYC.From the AIPAD website: BETWEEN THE LINES: SURVEYING THE ORIGINAL U.S.- MEXICO BORDERDr. Rebecca Senf, Chief Curator, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, with Artists Marcos Ramírez ERRE and David Taylor12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.Two artists, one Mexican and one American, set out to reframe the history of the U.S.-Mexico border with a 2,400-mile-long site-specific installation, DeLIMITations. Telling their story through photography, video, and maps, the artists discuss their 2014 collaboration to trace the boundary as it existed in 1821, when Mexico encompassed all of present day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as portions of four other states.
• Taylor, D. J. (2018, Spring). Border, Boundary, Frontier: A Decade of Change. Artist Lecture, Harvard University. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, Department of the History of Science.
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  Lecture to the students enrolled in the spring 2018 course The Border: Race, Politics and Public Health in Mexico. Invited by Gabriela Soto Laveaga, Professor of the History of Science Harvard University .
• Taylor, D. J., & Cantú, F. (2018, March). Border, Boundary, Frontier: Insight into the Complexity of the Borderlands. UA Science Tumamoc Hill Speaker Series. Tucson: UA Science.
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  Insights into the Complexity of the Borderlands with Francisco Cantú and David TaylorHelp us launch the Tucson Festival of Books and join us on March 8 at 6pm for this unique and timely event. Francisco and David wil share their intimate perspectives of the US/Mexico border and help us understand why there are no easy answers on an issue that has gripped the nation.This evening will also support a fundraising drive to help with the legal defense of humanitarian aid worker Scott Warren.
• Taylor, D. J., & Ramírez, M. (2018, April). DeLIMITations - David Taylor and Marcos Ramírez ERRE. Gallery Talk, Casa de la Cultura, Colima. Colima, Colima, Mexico: Galería de Casa de la Cultura.
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  Presentation and gallery talk at the Galería de Casa de la Cultura, Colima, Colima, Mexico.
• Taylor, D. J., & Ramírez, M. (2018, January). DeLIMITations - David Taylor and Marcos Ramírez ERRE. Panel Presentation, Universidad de Guadalajara. Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico: Museo de las Artes Universidad de Guadalajara.
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  From the Museo de las Artes website:Llega “Delimitations” al MUSA January 25, 2018La exposición de la autoría de Marcos Ramírez ERRE y David Taylor, será inaugurada hoy en el Museo de las Artes (MUSA) y permanecerá hasta el 8 de abril "Delimitations", la muestra, que está conformada por 61 piezas (documental, escultura, fotografía y mapa) y es resultado de un esfuerzo conjunto entre el MUSA y el Centro Universitario de Ciencias Económico Administrativas (CUCEA), cuestiona la inmutabilidad de las fronteras. Su modelo de análisis retoma los límites que en 1821 separaban a México de Estados Unidos, división que los autores de la exposición marcaron con una serie de monumentos instalados a lo largo de más de 3 mil 862 kilómetros en 2014.Las experiencias de su travesía de 31 días fueron registradas por medio de fotografías y un documental de José Inerzia, que invitan a reflexionar sobre la existencia de los límites, la inmensidad del paisaje y la propiedad del territorio.El Rector del CUCEA, maestro José Alberto Castellanos Gutiérrez, dijo que la exposición representa la posibilidad de que su comunidad tenga la oportunidad de acercarse al museo, disfrutar de lo que ofrece y propiciar debates sobre el tema.La Coordinadora de Extensión del mismo centro, doctora Kenia Ortiz Cadena, expresó que la propuesta surge a partir de un interés del plantel de generar un debate sobre el contexto actual de las fronteras, que han cobrado mayor relevancia a partir de la llegada a la Presidencia de Estados Unidos de Donald Trump.“La exposición se posiciona dentro de este contexto político de la relación entre México y Estados Unidos, y consideramos importante generar un debate paralelo a todas las implicaciones artísticas que en sí misma tiene la muestra con respecto al tema. Durante el periodo de exhibición desarrollaremos diferentes actividades como charlas, paneles y conferencias”, declaró Ortiz Cadena.La Directora del MUSA, maestra Maribel Arteaga Garibay, dijo que este es el segundo proyecto del año y resaltó el trabajo de colaboración con el CUCEA.La exposición cuenta con un espacio de reflexión en el que se incentiva a los visitantes a pensar sobre cómo las fronteras, a pesar de ser líneas imaginarias, están ligadas a implicaciones políticas, económicas y sociales. Se brindarán recorridos guiados para complementar la experiencia museística del visitante, para los cuales se requiere previa cita."Piensa y Trabaja"Guadalajara, Jal., 25 de enero de 2018Texto: Laura Sepúlveda
• Taylor, D. J. (2017, Fall). Border, Boundary, Frontier: A Decade of Change. 2017 Society for Photographic Education Regional Conference. Bradley University, Peoria, IL: Bradely University/Society for Photographic Education.
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  Featured SpeakerBorder, Boundary, Frontier: A Decade of ChangeA current resident of the borderlands, the boundary that delineates Mexico and United States has been a preoccupation for David Taylor over the past ten years. He will present his various individual and collaborative projects that reveal the history and contemporary disposition of the Southwest borderlands. Avoiding generalized descriptions, Taylor's projects engage with place at a granular level and present a complex territory that is frequently marked by contradictory realities. While the border is commonly portrayed as a singular phenomenon, Taylor's work reveals it as a series of district locations organized around a common feature. The border is entirely dependent on context and derives its meaning from the various circumstances of those who interact with it. Over the last decade the frontier between Mexico and the United States has changed more than in the previous century. Ultimately, Taylor's work is about how political boundaries are transformed over time.
• Taylor, D. J. (2017, Fall). Border, Boundary, Frontier: A Decade of Change. Visiting Artist Lecture, University of Nortern Colorado Art Dept.. Greeley, CO: University of Nortern Colorado Art Dept..
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  Visiting Artist Border, Boundary, Frontier: A Decade of ChangeA current resident of the borderlands, the boundary that delineates Mexico and United States has been a preoccupation for David Taylor over the past ten years. He will present his various individual and collaborative projects that reveal the history and contemporary disposition of the Southwest borderlands. Avoiding generalized descriptions, Taylor's projects engage with place at a granular level and present a complex territory that is frequently marked by contradictory realities. While the border is commonly portrayed as a singular phenomenon, Taylor's work reveals it as a series of district locations organized around a common feature. The border is entirely dependent on context and derives its meaning from the various circumstances of those who interact with it. Over the last decade the frontier between Mexico and the United States has changed more than in the previous century. Ultimately, Taylor's work is about how political boundaries are transformed over time.
• Taylor, D. J. (2017, Fall). Working the LIne, Monuments, and DeLIMITations. Artist Lecture, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Houston, TX: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
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  Lecture to the MFA Houston Photography Collectors Group and Collections Advisory Board in conjunction with the exhibition, Monuments: 276 Views of the United States–Mexico Border.
• Taylor, D. J., & Ramirez, M. (2017, November). DeLIMITations: Remapping the Border. In Transit/En Transito Symposium, University of Arizona. University of Arizona: Hemispheric Institute, UA College of Humanities, University of Arizona, Musuem of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, et al..
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  Symposium Presentation by Marcos Ramírez ERRE and David Taylor of DeLIMITations project as part of the In Transit/En Transito Symposium.In Transit/En tránsito: Arts, Migration, Resistance is an art exhibition accompanied by related events that collectively explore artistic practice, resistance, and social transformation in relation to transnational migration and human rights politics. Anchored in the Sonoran Desert borderlands and drawing on practices from different regions of the US, Mexico, and Central America, In Transit/En tránsito will bring together artists, activists, and academics for a series of cross-disciplinary conversations and collaborations.Organized by Drs. Kaitlin M. Murphy and Anita Huizar-Hernández, Department of Spanish and Portuguesehttps://moca-tucson.org/program/in-transit-symposium/
• Diaz, C., Tinnen, L. M., Cartagena, A., & Taylor, D. J. (2016, March). Of Borders and Beyond: The Politics of Immigration and the Latino Experience. 2016 Society for Photographic Education National Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada: University of Arizona College of Fine Art.
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  "Of Borders and Beyond: The Politics of Immigration and the Latino Experience"Carlos Diaz, Alejandro Cartagena, David Taylor, moderated by Lupita Murillo Tinnen (P)Friday, March 11 - 1:00PM to 2:45PMSummerlin EThe primary objective of this panel is to examine the breath and complexity of immigration issues specific to the United States - Mexico border, Latino immigrant communities within the United States and the nations from which people migrate. Through images, discussion and debate the panelists, who work both north and south of the border will explore mainstream presentation of immigration issues and specifically how both factual and fictional narratives are constructed in service of specific political ambitions. In doing so the panelists aspire to humanize individual immigrant circumstances and problematize the portrayal of contemporary immigration issues.
• Taylor, D. J. (2016, September). Past and Present: An Artist Talk with David Taylor. Phoenix Art Museum - Aritst Talk/Presentation. Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ: InFocus Photography photography support group of the Phoenix Art Museum.
• Taylor, D. J., & Ballí, C. (2016, March). AQUí/There: Where Local and International Meet. Immigration 2016: Mexico and Latin America in Crisis and in Context.
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  A free public symposium, at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at Midwestern State University.
• Taylor, D. J., & Ramírez, M. (2016, February). David Taylor and Marcos Ramírez ERRE on Photographing the U.S.-Mexico Border. Nevada Museum of Art Public Presentation. Reno, Nevada: Nevada Museum of Art.
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  Artists David Taylor and Marcos Ramírez ERRE collaborated on photography projects documenting the US-Mexico Border and its contested history. Join them for a discussion of their work and the social and cultural issues raised by their images.
• Taylor, D. J., & Ramírez, M. (2016, September). DeLIMITations - David Taylor and Marcos Ramírez ERRE. Artist Talk/Presentation. Washinton, DC: Mexican Cultural Institute.
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  This fall and winter the Mexican Cultural Institute will host the exhibit DELIMITATIONS, which catalogs the work of artists Marcos Ramírez ERRE and David Taylor. The exhibit inaguration will take place Wednesday, September 28 at 6:45 pm and will include a presentation by and discussion with the artists.DELIMITATIONS, catalogs a 2400 mile long, site-specific installation that traces the border between Mexico and the United States as it existed in 1821. In marking the short-lived historic boundary with a series of monuments that mimic those installed along the contemporary border between Mexico and the United States, Ramírez and Taylor question the permanence of borders. Their work acknowledges the territory that Mexico lost and makes a claim for the present, not to contest the current boundary but to prompt a recognition that the United States and Mexico have a shared history and common interests.See the DELIMITATIONS bloghereThis exhibition is presented in conjunction with the Goethe-Institut's exhibit 2,000 Miles: Divided Land, Common Humanity. You can learn more about their ehxibit by clicking here.

Creative Works

• Border Monument No. 186; Photography; SITE Santa Fe; May 2015; Unsettled Landscapes Portfolio; A limited edition portfolio of work by five of the artists featured in the SITE Santa Fe biennial exhibiton SITElines: Unsettled Landcapes. Portfolio Artists: Liz Cohen, Leandro Katz, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Patrick Nagatani, and David Taylor
• 'This is literally an industry': drone images give rare look at for-profit Ice detention centers; news media; Guardian News & Media Limited; January 2021; The Guardian; Online news feature about the conditions in ICE detention centers framed in context through the project COMPLEX. Article includes an image portfolio and video piece specially adapted for the Guaridan. See video for credits for additional collaborators.