Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening - Winston Holloway

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening - Will Cotton and Bethany Woods

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening - Luis Bustamante blindfolding Carl Spartz

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening - Carl Spartz

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition Opening - Long Table Dinner

Fabricating big wall structure.

Assembling the big wall at the LHUCA Warehouses

Assembling the big wall in the LHUCA Warehouses

Big Wall.

Removing two hundred pounds of dust.

Installation of work begins.

Installation work table.

Verifying the lighting.

Lighting the exhibition.

Land Arts 2011 Exhibition

Texas Tech University College of Architecture and the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA) announce Land Arts 2011 Exhibition. An opening reception will take place from 6-9 p.m. April 6, 2012 at the new LHUCA Warehouses at 1001 Mac Davis Lane in Lubbock, Texas.

The exhibition culminates the semester-long transdisciplinary field program Land Arts of the American West at Texas Tech in the College of Architecture and presents documents, objects and constructions by students Alexander Bingham, Luis Bustamante III, Will Cotton, Winston Holloway, Richard Klaja, Celeste Martinez, Zachary Mitchell, Carl Spartz, Rachael Wilson, and Bethany Wood. Chris Taylor, director of Land Arts of the American West at Texas Tech, leads the program and was assisted in the field by Texas Tech alumni Adrian Larriva. Students traveled 6,000 miles visiting locations across the Southwest camping for two months as they explored natural and human forces that shape contemporary landscapes—ranging from geology and weather to cigarette butts and hydroelectric dams. Land Arts 2011 field season was made possible with generous operational support from Andrea Nasher and student support from the James Family Foundation.

The exhibition will open with a reception on Friday, 6 April 2012 from 6 – 9 pm in conjunction with the First Friday Art Trail. The exhibition will be on view through 28 April 2012 on Saturday afternoons from noon to 4pm and by appointment. To set up an appointment contact Chris Taylor by phone at 806-392-6147 or by email at chris.taylor@ttu.edu.

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About Land Arts
Land Arts of the American West is a field program investigating the intersection of geomorphology and human construction. Land art or earthworks begin with the land and extend through the complex social and ecological processes that create landscape. Encompassing constructions that range from petroglyphs to roads, dwellings, monuments and traces of those actions, earthworks show us who we are. Examining gestures small and grand, Land Arts directs our attention from potsherd, cigarette butt, and track in the sand, to human settlements, monumental artworks, and military-industrial installations. Land Arts is a semester abroad in our own back yard investigating the American landscape through immersion, action and reflection.

Land Arts of the American West operates autonomously from the University of New Mexico College of Fine Arts and theTexas Tech University College of Architecture. Land Arts 2010 field season at Texas Tech was made possible with generous operational support from Andrea Nasher and student support from the James Family Foundation.

The 2011 Texas Tech field crew was composed of art and architecture students from Texas Tech. Future years will continue to broaden the transdisciplinary involvement from students across the Texas Tech community and participants from outside the university. The 2011 field itinerary included: White Sands, Chaco Canyon, Jackpile Mine, Laguna Pueblo, The Roden Crater Project, Double Negative, Sun Tunnels, Spiral Jetty, Bingham Canyon MIne, Center for Land Use Interpretation Wendover, Muley Point, Moon House, Marfa, Valentine, Cabinetlandia, Gila Hot Springs, Mimbres River, Chiricahua Mountains, Coolidge Dam on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Plains of San Agustin, Very Large Array, and The Lightning Field.

About the College of Architecture
The College of Architecture at Texas Tech University is located in Lubbock where architectural education has been offered since 1927. The college includes 850 undergraduate, graduate and PhD students and 50 faculty members. Graduate certificate programs are offered in Historic Preservation, Visualization, Community Design, Rural Health Care Design, and Digital Design Fabrication, as well as an interdisciplinary doctoral program in Land-Use Planning, Management, and Design. To extend the academic offerings on campus every undergraduate student participates in directed summer study abroad offerings in places such as Montreal, Paris, Seville, Valparaiso and Verona. The presence of Land Arts within the college expands the range of field study connecting teaching and research directly to landscapes we inhabit.

About the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts
The mission of the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts is to inspire and enrich our community by being a catalyst for the arts. Celebrating eleven years of serving our community, LHUCA is proud to announce this fabulous addition of the Warehouses on Mac Davis Lane and Studio Flats as part of the expanding LHUCA Campus. Our campus, located on a two city block area of downtown Lubbock, is the heart of the cultural district. The campus includes the FireHouse Building with a state-of-the-art theatre and four exhibition galleries, the Helen DeVitt Jones Clay Studio, and the IceHouse that provides rehearsal, event and gallery spaces. The Graffiti Building, equipped with a classroom and teaching gallery space, will open in April of this year. The newly acquired Warehouses will provide alternative exhibition and studio spaces for creative works that reach beyond the traditional gallery presentation. Land Arts 2010 Exhibition will demonstrate the flexible use of this space and serve as a magnet for the cultural growth and educational dialog between creator and viewer. The Board of Trustees and staff of LHUCA invite you to join us in celebrating the redevelopment and renovation of the cultural heart of Lubbock.

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If you would like more information about Land Arts or to schedule an interview with Chris Taylor contact him by phone at 806-392-6147 or by email at chris.taylor@ttu.edu. Additional information about the College of Architecture can be found by contacting Jess Schwintz at 806-742-3169, ext. 247 or visiting http://arch.ttu.edu, and the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts by visiting http://lhuca.org.

Sunny Tang at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, 2010.

Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Craft are presenting a lecture by Chris Taylor on Wednesday 22 February 2012 at 6:30pm in Portland, Oregon. The lecture “Testing Perceptual Thresholds with Land Arts of the American West” will discuss the embodied knowledge acquired through years of field experience. Details at http://cal.pnca.edu/events/266.

Camp at Spiral Jetty, Rozel Point, Great Salt Lake, Utah.

2012 Admissions

Opening The Cultivated Wilderness, or, What is Landscape? architecture critic Paul Shepheard reveals that “this book is about seeing things that are too big to see.” He provides three clear frames to orient our recognition: “The Wilderness of the book’s title is the world before humans appeared in it, and the Cultivation is everything we’ve done to it since. Landscape is another name for the strategies that have governed what we’ve done.” Investigating earthworks or land art is a way of mapping the intersection of geomorphology and human construction. Earthworks begin with the shape of the land and extend through the complex social and ecological processes that create landscape. Including the full array of human activity marking the planet, from petroglyphs to roads, dwellings, monuments and traces of those actions, earthworks show us who we are.

Since 2001 Land Arts of the American West has been developing as an transdisciplinary field program expanding the definition of land art and our relationship to landscape. Land Arts is a semester abroad in our own back yard connecting the pedagogic potential of travel with the rigors of field research.

Land Arts of the American West at Texas Tech University seeks to cultivate collective energy within an expanded disciplinary range of examinations from architecture, the built environment, public culture, literature, science, and geography to explorations of contemporary art practices.

THE COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE IS RECRUITING STUDENTS FROM ACROSS TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY AND BEYOND FOR LAND ARTS 2012.

Application information is available here: 20110302_land_arts_application.pdf. The following schedule will facilitate the application and selection process:

Information Meeting on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 5:30pm in the Architecture and Art Courtyard. Meeting for all students interested in applying to the program. We will review the program goals and application details. Applicants outside Lubbock can schedule a Skpe meeting.

Application Deadline is on Monday, April 9, 2012, 5:00pm in Room 709 of the Architecture Building.

Notification of Acceptance will occur on Friday, April 20, 2012.

For questions or additional information please contact Chris Taylor.

Land Arts 2011 at Texas Tech concluded its second journey on Monday 24 October 2011 with the sense of purpose and dedication it began in late August due in large part to the dedicated participants: Alexander Bingham, Luis Bustamante III, Will Cotton, Winston Holloway, Richard Klaja, Celeste Martinez, Zachary Mitchell, Carl Spartz, Rachael Wilson, and Bethany Wood. Adrian Larriva (Land Arts 2009 Alum and TTU MARCH graduate) proved pivotal as the Land Arts Program Assistant, and Chris Taylor continues to direct the program at Texas Tech.

Breaks between journeys always alternate between not enough time for necessary correspondence, bill paying, and deep cleaning, and too much time away from the immediacy of working and living in the field. Everyone was eager to return to the patina of the road as we ventured through West Texas to begin a slower pace voyage with a focus on sites to make work. We were out for twenty-five days and traveled around 2,500 miles overland. During that time we were visited by outstanding field guests: Design Build Adventure founder Jack Sanders, West Texas living legend and artist Boyd Elder, Land Arts 2009 alum Jose Villanueva, and PORK New Orleans designer and educator David Gregor.

Our second journey began in Marfa, Texas with the legacy of Donald Judd through visits to the Judd Foundation and the Chinati Foundation. A healthy wind storm also greeted our return, snapping a weak tie down strap and flipping the kitchen tent. Nothing major was lost and we were able to quickly reset camp. Jack Sanders met us in Marfa to tell us about the evolutionary design and construction processes developing El Cosmico. Learning first hand we also invested our efforts in the process by helping establish newly planted trees.

From Marfa we made the short trip west to Valentine where Boyd Elder and Jose Villanueva were waiting. Boyd’s family goes back to the origins of this small West Texas town and in recent years an old dance hall from the late nineteenth century has come under his care. While the building, called the Saloone (read Sa-loan), needs a great deal of work, it’s thick adobe shell is worthy of attention. Jose has been working with Boyd to get the project moving and lending the collective shoulder of Land Arts added to the momentum. The students got their hands dirty repairing adobe and adding mud plaster to stave off future erosion using a recipe with cactus juice and horse dung from Ron Rael. It was three days of serious work. On our way out of Valentine we visited Prada Marfa with Boyd in the early morning light.

En route to our next site we stopped in El Paso for supplies and to attend a fiesta for the students hosted by Jesse and Irma Larriva. This is the third year the Larriva’s have welcomed Land Arts into their home, fortunately this year Robert Gonzales, Director of the Texas Tech College of Architecture El Paso program was able to participate. On the road again, we rolled into Cabinetlandia at sun set as a cold front blew in. Rain to our east and west dropped the temperature precipitously and the stiff wind filled air, tents, and lungs with dust. The fierce weather broke quickly leaving us clear skies and cold nights.

Cabinetlandia is a project space of Brooklyn based Cabinet magazine and site of the Cabinet National Library. Located within the failed Deming Ranchettes development between Interstate 10 and a major east-west route of the Southern Pacific Railroad the site is an outstanding laboratory to explore and test the ongoing Land Arts conversation unfolding through our regular seminars.

David Gregor joined us at Cabinetlandia to share the aerial photographic techniques he used last summer in China. From New Orleans he brought a kite for sending a camera aloft, a sixteen foot tall stick for elevated points of view, and a series of influential books to share with the students. David was very generous with his deep connection to the land art sites throughout the American West and his reading of the priorities facing design, art and architecture education today.

With our fill of fine Chihuahuan Desert scrubland dust we said farewell to David and ventured into Deming to resupply our food stocks and do a bit of laundry. From there we turned north heading into the Gila Wilderness—straight to the Gila River and hot springs to extend the much needed cleaning. After a brief soaking we returned south to set camp along the banks of the Mimbres River. This was another work site and the students pursued their projects immediately. From hands on fabrication to various levels of mapping this was a very productive place.

On the road again we passed through Silver City then southwest out of the mountains. Mining casts a long shadow across our itinerary and we stopped for lunch at the beleaguered interpretive overlook of the Tyrone Tailings Reclamation.

Next, a site near the top of the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona allowed us to experience how sky islands operate in the desert. We also gained first hand knowledge of the impact of last May’s Horseshoe Two Fire that badly burnt the Chiricahua Mountains shifting the focus of this site from work to interpretation. All structured campgrounds around Barfoot peak were closed. Fortunately our regular site did not burn completely and was safe to use. Students worked to make sense of the effects of drought, land use policy that minimizes sustainable cycles of fire, increased human interaction in fragile ecological territories, and shifting climatic patterns. Lessons were palpable in what came back from their excursions and folded directly into their work.

We extended the route to our final camp to rejoin the Gila River and follow it to the Coolidge Dam on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona. We stopped for lunch at this fantastic dome and buttress structure built in the late 1920’s. At Globe we turned onto Highway 60 heading north through the Salt River canyon and then east through Show Low, Springerville and Quemado. Working against the path of the sun we rolled into our camp on the edge of the Plains of San Agustin in New Mexico just as the last light was leaving the sky. The well seasoned crew set camp and started making dinner in no time.

The next day the group split in two so we could visit The Lightning Field by Walter di Maria. On the way we visited the Very Large Array to ponder astronomers making images with what they hear from deep space. Photography of The Lightning Field is still not permitted and both groups had outstanding visits indexing the daily balance of light with our senses.

Highway 52, the dirt road running along the east edge of the Plains of San Agustin and near our camp was busy with hunters pushing south into the Gila Wilderness for the beginning of elk season. It also seemed to bring poachers of pronghorn antelope as we witnessed a drive by kill site and found twelve abandoned legs. The spirits in the camp remained strong as we neared the completion of our field season and students focus on their work deepened.

With the first clouds we’d seen in two weeks it was time to load up. A bit dirtier and worn down, we packed into the vans one more time and rolled towards home, to clean up, and, to eat Los Tacos in east Lubbock. Now the students are completing their work on campus for the end of the semester critique on December 7, 2011 and the Land Arts 2011 Exhibition at the LHUCA Warehouses in Lubbock from April 7 to May 4, 2012.

A select group of images from Journey 2 are included below and more are available in the Field Reports section of this site. Our complete itinerary is online at Land Arts 2011 Itinerary.

West Texas Departure

Lunch in Pyote, Texas.

Marfa, Texas

Judd Foundation tour of The Block, Marfa, Texas.

One of our tie down straps broke in the wind toppling the cook tent at El Cosmico, Marfa, Texas.

Working of the grounds at El Cosmico -- weeding and mulching, Marfa, Texas.

Collecting mulch for the new trees at El Cosmico, Marfa, Texas.

Walking El Cosmico with Jack Sanders, Marfa, Texas.

Cleaning up after dinner with Ginger and Jack, El Cosmico, Marfa, Texas.

Valentine, Texas

Boyd Elder and Jorge in the Saloone, Valentine, Texas.

The Saloone before starting to work, Valentine, Texas.

Mixing more mud from dust at the Saloone, Valentine, Texas.

Cactus and horse manure tea ready for mixing with adobe mud at the Saloone, Valentine, Texas.

Celeste filling in a void in the existing adobe wall at the Saloone, Valentine, Texas.

Saloone stabilized after three days work with Jose Villanueva, Valentine, Texas.

Touring Prada Marfa with Boyd Elder, Valentine, new Mexico.

El Paso, Texas

Fiesta at the house of Jesse and Irma Larriva with Robert Gonzales, Director of the Texas Tech El Paso Architecture Program, El Paso, Texas.

Cabinetlandia, Deming, New Mexico

Arrival at Cabinetlandia in a dust storm, east of Deming, New Mexico.

Cabinet National Library, east of Deming, New Mexico.

David Gregor testing the kite before sending a camera up, Cabinetlandia, east of Deming, New Mexico.

David Gregor mounting the camera and cradle to the kite string in preparation of flight, Cabinetlandia, east of Deming, New Mexico.

Kite photography with David Gregor, Cabinetlandia, east of Deming, New Mexico.

David Gregor talking about his work and the development of PORK at Cabinetlandia, east of Deming, New Mexico.

Books David Gregor brought to share with the students, Cabinetlandia, east of Deming, New Mexico.

Remains of the cooking pit at Cabinetlandia, east of Deming, New Mexico.

Gila Hot Springs, New Mexico

Gingerly taking in the warm waters at the Gila Hot Springs, New Mexico.

Mimbres River, New Mexico

Mimbres River, Gila Wildnerness, New Mexico.

Will planing sticks to make an aerial camera mount, Mimbres River, Gila Wilderness, New Mexico.

Will planing sticks to make an aerial camera mount, Mimbres River, Gila Wilderness, New Mexico.

Celeste mapping the sun at the Mimbres River, Gila Wilderness, New Mexico.

Richie mapping the geometry of a fallen cottonwood tree, Mimbres River, Gila Wilderness, New Mexico.

Roadside Lunch

Lunch at the Tyrone Tailings Reclamation Overlook, south of Tyrone, New Mexico.

Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona

Driving into the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Hiking up to the Barfoot Lookout, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Looking north from the site of the old Barfoot Lookout cabin, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Campfire in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Bethany drawing with burnt wood in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Van positioned to maximize solar charging, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Celeste Martinez sampling color and texture in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Alex Bingham's field notes of explorations in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Coolidge Dam, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona

Arriving for lunch at the Coolidge Dam, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona. The triple dome and buttress dam was dedicated in 1930.

Stair down from the northwestern spillway at the Coolidge Dam, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona.

Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico

Base camp on the edge of the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Celeste Martinez at the Very Large Array, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

The center of The Lightning Field, northeast of Quemado, New Mexico.

Questionable pronghorn antelope kill site, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Abandoned pronghorn antelope legs bringing further evidence to poaching, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Jupiter rising over camp, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Celeste Martinez, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Will collecting the microphone from his Tub Harp, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

2011 Participants before loading up, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Back to Texas

Inside the passenger van on Highway 60, Central New Mexico.

Last of the white lunch sandwiches, Roswell, New Mexico.

Luis and the reasonably clean van, Lubbock, Texas.

Welcome back dinner at Los Tacos, Lubbock, Texas.

Welcome back dinner at Los Tacos, Lubbock, Texas.

Luis and the reasonably clean van, Lubbock, Texas.

Carl washing out the kitchen gear, Lubbock, Texas.

Adrian organizing the great unpacking, Lubbock, Texas.