Colin Zelt
Galveston Arts Center
- Garland Fielder -
Colin Zelt, Sea-Arama #16, 2005-2006; archival inkjet print; 20 x 24 inches
Sea-Arama #30, 2005-2006; archival inkjet print; 20 x 24 inches; courtesy the artist
In Sea-Arama Ruins, Colin Zelt presents a tremendously epic series of surreal photographs. His colorful inkjet prints constitute a swan song for the Sea-Arama amusement park, built in 1965 in Galveston. Zelt captures the death throes of the abandoned park with wide angles and careful compositions that present a sad yet stately corpse. A one-time tourist attraction, the park captured a certain sixties aesthetic, along with a world-class collection of marine life, both on display and in performance. In the exhibition’s catalogue, Zelt wisely claims that his intention is not to comment on such use of animals. Rather, his concerns are formal and also explore man’s interaction with his environment in an abandoned state. The park was little more than a haven for squatters, bombers and the like before it was finally razed last year.
Zelt’s photographs work as a sort of catalog, organized chronologically. The artist worked on the Sea-Arama project for over a year, as graffiti continued to spread over the ruins, reflecting current events. The artist’s gaze has an almost self-effacing quality, never intruding into the space. Rather, he seems to be vying for an objective presentation of the passage of time. In some images, decaying structures hold on to a majestic quality, all the while quite obviously in a complete state of disarray.
A cumulative, chronological approach works well in this scenario given that the original intent of the amusement park was, no doubt, to display marine life in a “natural” habitat. Zelt’s tone reflects this and at the same time bemoans it. In capturing the progress of squalor and entropy, Zelt documents the overall impotence that man must face at the end of the day. Meanwhile, the viewer somehow becomes the captured and displayed animal, swimming endlessly in circles and awaiting inevitable demise.
Zelt’s painstakingly composed photographs pull away from this heavy content just enough to allow for some amazing formal aspects to surface. In Sea-Arama #32, for instance, the hollowed-out skeleton of a skylight casts a shadow on the walls of a gigantic interior display tank. This creates a beautiful mosaic effect that alludes to the passing of time. It is as though the giant room has become a sextant, quietly tracing its own deterioration.
The color scheme in most of the images is the most resilient aspect of the work in that some of the sixties-era zeitgeist still manages to filter through. Bright opaque walls are lined aqua, then yellow and green. Some of the intensity brings to mind the work of Peter Max or designer Heinz Edelmann and crew: in fact, the whole ruined park could be described as an abandoned set for a live action version of Yellow Submarine.
Zelt is not primarily a photographer by trade. He is a professor of earth science at Rice University in Houston. His handling of the medium is thus remarkably mature. Perhaps it is appropriate that a man of his profession lends such a respectful tone to the doings of man, both in terms of the park’s original attempt to capture nature and display it, and in the latter-day ghostlike inhabitants who left their mark in its final hours.
Garland Fieldeb is an artist and writer currently based in Houston.