----------------------------------- --HOME ----------------------------------- --Programming --Fonds documentaire --International exhibition --Publications --Educational services --Archives home exhibition > Space of making > Louise Noguchi Louise Noguchi   Louise Noguchi has undertaken a series of photographs that document the living history of the cowboy figure, still found in Far West theme parks such as Six Gun City in Jefferson, New Jersey, and Donley’s Wild West Town in Union, Illinois. The origins of this prolific leisure industry lie in the travelling shows organized by William Frederick Cody (Buffalo Bill) who, between 1883 and 1913, travelled around the United States and Europe with his theatrical troupe, its sets and musicians contributing to the glorification of the legend of the Far West. Today, this story is reinterpreted in settings where scenes of the conquest of the Far West are acted out, over and over. The actors, dressed in period costumes and equipped with the necessary props, are professional gunmen, lasso artists, skilled knife throwers, and, of course, virtuoso horseback riders. What is fascinating about the performances that Noguchi documents is the way in which the history of the cowboy is re-created so that it corresponds exactly to the audience’s expectations. Far West theme parks can thus be seen as sites of a symbolic action, for they stage the collective imagination by referring to and adopting the appearance of the widely familiar western movie genre.     Louise Noguchi, Virgil, 2004, transmounted digital print, 76 x 102 cm. Courtesy of the artist.