Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening dinner.

Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening long table dinner.

Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening long table dinner.

Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening dinner with the Lubbock Architecture car.

Colleen and Cecilia applaud the arrival of Jose for the opening dinner.

Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Joaquin and Katy Chrisler at Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

“Aftermath or Very Small Array” by Katy Chrisler at Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Carl Spartz and Kevin Chua with Nicholas Pierce at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Hidden listeners to “Rudimentary Landscape for Understanding, 1 of 2 — ‘In No Other Place,’ ‘I Want to be a Good Wife,’ ‘Days That Spill Brightening Hours’” by Katy Chrisler at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg and Alan watching “Maga Tumbler / Tumbleweed Dream Machine” by Maura Murnane at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Arie Ruvinsky, Richie Klaja and Celeste Martinez at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

“Conversations” by Nicholas Pierce, Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Peter Briggs at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Jigga Patel and posse at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Irma and Jesse Larriva talking with Arie Ruvinsky at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

“Having a Snack While the Sun Sets” by Maura Murnane, Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Zoe Berg performing at the Land Arts 2012 Exhibition opening.

Visiting Jackpile Mine site with Curtis Francisco, Laguna Pueblo.

Lecture by Chris Taylor
Thursday 21 March 2013 at 4:30pm
Commons Theater
Virginia Commonwealth University
School of the Arts
Department of Graphic Design
325 N. Harrison Street
Richmond, VA 23284

Taylor will talk about the embodied experience accumulated within the last ten years of Land Arts of the American West, the transdisciplinary field program he directs at Texas Tech University that investigates the intersection of human construction and the evolving shape of the planet. 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.

Working at the Spiral Jetty, Rozel Point, Utah, 9 Sep 2012.

Lecture by Chris Taylor
Tuesday 12 February 2013 at 6:30pm
Education Building (EDU) TECO room 103
School of Architecture and Community Design
University of South Florida
Tampa, Florida

Taylor will talk about the embodied experience accumulated within the last ten years of Land Arts of the American West, the transdisciplinary field program he directs at Texas Tech University that investigates the intersection of human construction and the evolving shape of the planet. 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 2012 Exhibition

Texas Tech University College of Architecture and the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA) announce Land Arts 2012 Exhibition. An opening reception will take place from 6-9 p.m. April 5, 2013 at the 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 Zoe Berg (art student at University of Texas at Austin), Katy Chrisler (poet with MFA from Writer’s Workshop at University of Iowa), Cade Hammers (architecture student at Texas Tech), Luis Martín Medina (architecture student at Texas Tech), Maura Murnane (New York based artist), Colleen O’Brien (art student at Texas Tech), Jigga Patel (architecture student at Texas Tech), Nicholas Pierce (poetry and creative writing student at Texas Tech), Arie Ruvinsky (artist with BFA from Goldsmiths/University of London), Cecilia Stewart (architecture student at Texas Tech).

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 Jose Villanueva. Land Arts 2012 field season was made possible with generous operational support from Andrea Nasher and student support from the James Family Foundation.

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. The itinerary included: White Sands, Jackpile Mine, Laguna Pueblo, Chaco Canyon, Muley Point, Moon House, Bingham Canyon Mine, Spiral Jetty, Sun Tunnels, Center for Land Use Interpretation Wendover, Double Negative, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Galisteo, Marfa, 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.

The exhibition will open with a reception on Friday, 5 April 2013 from 6 – 9 pm in conjunction with the First Friday Art Trail. The exhibition will be on view Saturday afternoons from noon to 4pm and by appointment through Friday, 3 May 2013 when the exhibition will close with another First Friday Art Trail reception. 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 2012 field season at Texas Tech was made possible with generous operational support from Andrea Nasher and student support from the James Family Foundation.

The 2012 Texas Tech field crew was composed of four architecture, four art, and two poetry students. Future years will continue to broaden the interdisciplinary involvement from students across the Texas Tech community and participants from outside the university.

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 2012 Exhibition will continue to 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.

Image: Working at the Spiral Jetty, Rozel Point, Utah, 9 Sep 2012, by Chris Taylor.

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

2013 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: Land Arts Application PDF. The following schedule will facilitate the application and selection process:

Information Meeting on Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 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 Skype meeting.

Application Deadline is on Friday, April 12, 2013, 5:00pm in Room 709 of the Architecture Building.

Notification of Acceptance will occur on Tuesday, April 23, 2013.

For questions or additional information please contact Chris Taylor.

Land Arts 2012 at Texas Tech concluded its second journey on Tuesday 3 October 2012 with the dedication and intensity it began in late August due in large part to the exceptional group of participants are: Zoe Berg (artist), Katy Chrisler (poet), Cade Hammers (architect), Martin Medina (architect), Maura Murnane (artist), Colleen O’Brien (artist), Jigga Patel (architect), Nicholas Pierce (poet), Arie Ruvinsky (artist) and Cecilia Stewart (architect). Jose Villanueva (Land Arts 2009 Alum) was a tireless and outstanding Program Assistant and Chris Taylor continued 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-seven days and traveled around 2,500 miles overland. During that time we were visited by a string of outstanding field guests: Land Arts alum and Design Build Adventure member Adrian Larriva, artist Boyd Elder, filmmaker Sam Douglas, artist Amy Hauft, artist and Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at UT Austin Jack Risley, Texas Tech Landmark Arts director Joe Arredondo, poet John Poch, and writer Charles Bowden.

Before we set out for the field Upe Flueckiger of Texas Tech spoke with us about his research on the architecture of Donald Judd partly because our first stop was Marfa, Texas. We camped, as usual, at the wonderfully evolving El Cosmico where Adrian Larriva was working. Filmmaker Sam Douglas camped with us to gain more insight for Moving Mountains, his film in the works about the Land Arts program, and we screened Citizen Architect under the stars. Adrian Larriva talked to us about his work with Design Build Adventure—projecting slides on the side of a van—to help the crew get a handle on the evolution of El Cosmico. It had been a while since Land Arts was in Marfa for open house weekend, so in addition to tours of the Chinati and Judd foundations there were a host of events including a lecture by curator Lynne Cooke, visits from guests Amy Hauft, Jack Risley, Joe Arredondo, John Poch, Boyd Elder, Ester Partegás, and a bevy of Land Arts alumni. It was a grand and busy gathering with time in short supply.

On the way to our next site we paused at Prada Marfa to consider its evolving condition, and we stopped in El Paso for another wonder fiesta hosted by Jesse and Irma Larriva. The next site was Cabinetlandia in the Chihuahuan Desert scrub east of Deming, New Mexico. As a work site it provided a chance for students to engage the Cabinet National Library as well as invest time in their work. Writer Charles Bowden spent a day and a half with us their relaying the trajectory of his recent work looking deeply into the US/Mexico border conditions.

From there we moved up into the Gila Wilderness camping alongside the dry Mimbres River—usually there is a small trickle of water. Another work site it expanded time for students to develop their work across many avenues from construction and documentation to performance and video. Leaving the Gila we stopped for lunch at the Tyrone Mine Reclamation overlook to see the limited progress there. The next stop was up in the Chiricahua Mountains to experience the realities of the sky islands of the Sonoran Desert and the aftermath of a major forest fire that swept through the region a year and a half ago.  Work continued.

On the way to our next stop the need for bathing had risen palpably so we stopped at the un-swimmable Roper Lake State Park to avail ourselves of their cold water showers and outdoor hot pool. The next stop was a new and somewhat provisional site in the Tonto National Forest and a visit to the Coolidge Dam on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. The dam was completed in 1928 and demonstrates the complicated and often fraught circumstances of large scale water projects in the west. When we were there the lake was officially closed because it was only holding 1% of it’s capacity. The fish that remained struggled at the surface of the water gasping for oxygen.

After a resupply in Show Low, Arizona we set out for our final base camp on the edge of the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico. A work site that also served as a base to visit the Very Large Array and The Lightning Field. As the days grew shorter and the nights colder our time in the field drew to a close and we rolled back into Lubbock on 30 October to unload the vans and complete a major cleaning and sorting of the gear so it could be stored for next field year. A select group of images from Journey 2 are included below.

Upe Flueckiger talking about the architecture of Donald Judd, Lubbock, Texas.

Over El Cosmico, Marfa, Texas.

Beginning the Chinati Foundation tour with Valerie Arbor, Marfa, Texas.

Dinner with Sam Douglas in camp at El Cosmico, Marfa, Texas.

Lynne Cooke talking about the work of John Chamberlain, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas.

The arrival of Jack Risley and Amy Hauft to camp at El Cosmico, Marfa, Texas.

Prepping for the big dinner with Joe Arredondo, John Poch, Jack Risley, Amy Hauft, Ester Partegás and Land Arts alumni at El Cosmico, Marfa, Texas.

Multiple visitors at Prada Marfa, Valentine, Texas.

Annual Land Arts fiesta with the Larriva family, El Paso, Texas.

Arriving at Cabinetlandia, east of Deming New Mexico.

Talking with Charles Bowden at Cabinetlandia, near Deming, New Mexico.

Katy reading from the Cabinet National Library, Cabinetlandia, New Mexico.

Jigga drawing at Cabinetlandia, near Deming, New Mexico.

Above the work tale at Cabinetlandia, New Mexico.

Working in the cook tent at Cabinetlandia, near Deming, New Mexico.

Above Cabinetlandia, near Deming, New Mexico.

Rolling Maura’s giant tumble weed, Cabinetlandia, near Deming, New Mexico.

Solar charging at Mimbres River, New Mexico.

Maura hanging tents, Mimbres River, New Mexico.

Martin and Jigga working, Mimbres River, New Mexico.

Martin working with the sun, Mimbres River, New Mexico.

Lunch at the Tyrone reclamation overlook, Tyrone, New Mexico.

Setting up camp, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Maura deploying her inflatable, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Post fire remnants in Rustlers Park, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.

Jose floating in the hot tub at Roper Lake State Park, Ariziona.

Visiting Coolidge Dam, San Carlos Apache Reservation.

Coolidge Dam, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona.

Coolidge Dam, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona.

Coolidge Dam, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona.

Loading coolers in Show Low, Arizona.

Very Large Array, New Mexico.

Jose reading, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

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

Above camp, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Maura and Zoe exploring the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Above the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Morning Fire, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Foot trails at The Lightning Field, northeast of Quemado, New Mexico.

Returning to the lessons of Judd and Flueckiger, Plains of Agustin, New Mexico.

Group before departing the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

Scrubbing down the gear at the Combine, Lubbock, Texas.

Washing up kitchen equipment at the Combine, Lubbock, Texas.

Bags waiting for the journey home, Lubbock, Texas.

Cleaning up the vans at the Combine, Lubbock, Texas.

Washing up kitchen equipment at the Combine, Lubbock, Texas.