Course DescriptionThis six credit Field Studies Learning Community will develop concepts and skills in drawing and site-specific art while exploring major works of Land Art and land use sites in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. Day trips to iconic works such as Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels, Michael Heizer’s Double Negative, as well as trips to six national and state parks, art spaces, and man-made landscapes, will serve as the inspiration for observational and experimental drawings, readings and reflections, discussions of human relationships with land, development of project proposals, and creation of work for a site-specific location as well as a gallery exhibition. Students are encouraged to work on site, consider the ethical implications of their approach, and find ways to blend drawing with forms such as video, performance, sculpture, sound, and installation.
Students must be prepared to walk/hike for several hours each day in the sun, sometimes at high altitudes. Access to a cell phone with internet service and camera is highly recommended for this course. |
Must co-enroll in ART 1823 Site Specific Art & Installation and either ART1101 Drawing 1 or ART1102 Drawing 2.
On-campus dates: Friday, May 10, Thursday, May 30, and Friday, May 31, 2019 (9am to 3pm). Field Study: May 17-26. Please register early to ensure you seat! Fee: $2275 (Includes airfare, double occupancy hotel, entrance fees, transportation in the Southwest, most breakfasts; tuition is extra.) |
TopicsScale, Time, Entropy
How does scale play a role in experience throughout this trip? Consider the ideas of being “on top of” or being “inside of” in relationship to the work and sites we have visited. What does Smithson say about entropy? How is entropy evident in the earthworks we visited? Where do you see physical or other evidence of time and/or timelines on this journey? Landscape, Land Management, Conservation, & Stewardship What are the origins of the word “Landscape”? What are the pros and cons of land or resource management such as BLM and NPS? How has the term “conservation” been utilized by the American capitalist and political systems? How does conservation differ from stewardship? Explain indigenous viewpoints on these topics. How is Double Negative different from Bingham Canyon Mine? Describe a location in terms of the beauty and terror of the sublime. The Road & Access What significance does “the Road” (or path) play throughout the trip, both in person and in our readings/research? Virginia Dwan stated that Land Art is available for anyone to see, like the Grand Canyon, unlike art in museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your position. How can this idea of access be related to the rest of our trip and the National Parks? How does economics/money play a role? What role does tourism play?What spaces do we have access to but not take advantage of? Why? |
Contested Territory
What does it mean to produce space? Give examples of problematic production of space and ideal production of space. How can art contribute to problematic and responsible modes of production of space? What roles do tourism, agriculture, industry, and military play? Who owns land? Where did the idea of land ownership develop? What are the pros and cons to the concept of ownership? Research and describe your thoughts on indigenous conceptions of borders and territory. Human Relationship to Land How has the human relationship to land evolved? How has this changing relationship shaped land itself and our conception of it? Describe Western and non-Western ideas related to land. Where do ideas of the anthropocene become more present? How does technology influence and mediate our/your relationship to land? How do these things help inform your conception of a contemporary sublime? How has your understanding of land and land use evolved over the course of this trip? |
Special Guest : Matthew Coolidge
Matthew Coolidge is the Founder and Director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI), based in Los Angeles, and established in 1994. The Center’s mission is to increase and diffuse information about how land in the United States is apportioned, utilized, and perceived. The Center explores, examines, and expresses how the built landscape of the nation is an artifact reflecting contemporary American culture and society. The Center produces public programs including exhibitions, tours, lectures, and events, publishes books, and web resources, including a photographic archive and a searchable database of “unusual and exemplary” land use in the United States.
The work of the Center has been presented in museums, universities, and noncommercial exhibit spaces across the United States, and Europe. Under his direction the CLUI has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Lannan Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and others. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lucelia Artist Award from the Smithsonian Institution, and the Media Artist Award from the Rockefeller Foundation. He is the author of several books, including "Overlook: Exploring the Internal Fringes of America with the Center for Land Use Interpretation."
The work of the Center has been presented in museums, universities, and noncommercial exhibit spaces across the United States, and Europe. Under his direction the CLUI has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Lannan Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and others. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lucelia Artist Award from the Smithsonian Institution, and the Media Artist Award from the Rockefeller Foundation. He is the author of several books, including "Overlook: Exploring the Internal Fringes of America with the Center for Land Use Interpretation."
Professors:
Mara Baker & Jackie Weaver
Suggested Related Events:
Artist Talk: Newton Harrison, Tuesday, April 9, 6pm, Rubloff Auditorium, SAIC
Exhibition: 2.7 Degrees, January 26- March 9, Carrie Secrist Gallery
Exhibition: All have the same breath, January 18- March 9, Gallery 400, UIC
Exhibition: A Body Measured Against the Earth, August 21, 2018-April 7, 2019, MCA Chicago
Exhibition: Groundings, November 3, 2018- May 12, 2019, MCA Chicago
Exhibition: Jonathas de Andrade, April 3-August 25, 2019, MCA Chicago
Artist Talk: Newton Harrison, Tuesday, April 9, 6pm, Rubloff Auditorium, SAIC
Exhibition: 2.7 Degrees, January 26- March 9, Carrie Secrist Gallery
Exhibition: All have the same breath, January 18- March 9, Gallery 400, UIC
Exhibition: A Body Measured Against the Earth, August 21, 2018-April 7, 2019, MCA Chicago
Exhibition: Groundings, November 3, 2018- May 12, 2019, MCA Chicago
Exhibition: Jonathas de Andrade, April 3-August 25, 2019, MCA Chicago
What to Pack
Space is limited to one small suitcase and one backpack per student. Plan to do laundry on the trip to save space. Below are some practical suggestions of what to include.
- Backpack
- Sunglasses
- Brimmed hat
- Water bottle/camelbak
- Sunscreen and bug repellent
- Lightweight long sleeved shirt and pants
- Water shoes/old sneakers for Salt Lake at the Jetty (will likely get ruined by salt)
- Hiking boots & hiking socks (merino wool recommended)
- Waterproof bag (could be as simple as ziplock bags)
- Camera/camera phone, solar charger
- 11x14 hard sided sketchbook & variety of drawing tools
- 1-2 lightweight, compact materials to add to or interact with the landscape (rope, string, fabric, special item of clothing, plastic, paper, images, pre-made sculptures, etc)
- Consider bringing a couple compact items such as a foldable camp shovel, measuring tape, retractable walking poles, plastic storage tube with strap, mini-tripod
Register!Register in My Access
|
Pricing $2275 + Tuition
Includes airfare, double occupancy hotel, entrance fees, transportation in the Southwest, most breakfasts. Tuition is for 6 credits. In State Tuition Total:$816; Out of State Tuition Total: $1938 All students must take the course for credit. Pass/fail option available. For scholarship info, apply asap by visiting: www.cod.edu/academics/field Payment plans available. For more information, email [email protected]. |
Bibliography
Abramovic, Marina. “Statements.” (1992) The Sublime, edited by Simon Morley, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2010, pp. 212.
Agamben, Georgio. “The Witness and the Archive.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 73.
Alys, Francis. “When Faith Moves Mountains.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 39-40.
Bowden, Charles. “Contested Ground: The Wisdom of Rats.” Orion, Nov/Dec 2009, pp. 18-25.
Careri, Francisco. Walkscapes: Walking as an Aesthetic Practice. 2002. Aimes, IA: Culicidae Architecture Press, 2017, pp. 25-32; 35-44; 48-50; 111-131.
Coolidge, Matthew. “The Bus Tour as Inverted Vitrine: Engaging with the Material Culture of the Museum of the American Land.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 43.
Coolidge, Matthew. “Center for Land Use Interpretation.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 33.
Halperin, Ilana. “Geologic Intimacy/Physical Geology.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 53.
Hofmann, Irene, Janet Dees, Candice Hopkins & Lucia Sanroman. Unsettled Landscapes. Santa Fe: SITE Santa Fe, 2015, pp. 35-37; 40-48; 77-79; 108; 122.
Kastner, Jeffrey. “Rich in Reference: Thought on Land Art’s Infrastructural Legacy.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 35-39.
Kelley, Bill Jr. “Reimagining Ceremonies: a Conversation with Postcommodity.” After All: a Journal of Art, Context, and Enquiry, Issue 39, Summer 2015, pp. 26-35.
Kuletz, Valeria L. The Tainted Desert: Environmental and Social Ruin in the American West. New York: Routledge, 1998, pp. xiii-xix, 20-37.
Lippard, Lucy. “Notes from a Recent Arrival.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 154-157.
Lippard, Lucy. “Peripheral Vision.” Land Arts of the American West, edited by Chris Taylor and Bill Gilbert, Austin: University of Texas Press, 2009, pp. 337-345.
Lippard, Lucy. Undermining: A Wild Ride Through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West. New York and London: The New Press, 2014, pp. 15-30.
Los Angeles Urban Rangers and Area Chicago. “Cartography.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 115, 140-145.
Matta-Clark, Gordon. “Statement.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 33.
Morley, Simon. “Introduction: The Contemporary Sublime.” The Sublime, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2010, pp.12-21.
Paglen, Trevor. “Experimental Geography: from cultural production to the production of space.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 27-33.
Paglen, Trevor. “Frontier Photography: the Other Night Sky.” Artforum International, March 2009, pp. 224-229.
Paglen, Trevor, Iain Kerr, and Multiplicity. “Research and Development.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 65, 71, 75-77.
Reisner, Marc. Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water. New York: Viking Press, 1986, pp. 1-15.
Reynolds, Ann. “At the Jetty.” Robert Smithson: Spiral Jetty. Berkeley and New York: University of California Press and Dia Art Foundation, 2005, pp. 73-76.
Scott, Emily Eliza and Kirsten Swenson. “Introduction: Contemporary Art and the Politics of Land Use.” Critical Landscapes: Art, Space, Politics. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2015, pp. 1-15.
Scranton, Roy. Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization. City Lights Publishers, 2015.
Sloterdjik, Peter. “The Anthropocene: A Process State on the Edge of Geohistory?” Textures of the Anthropocene: Grain, Vapor, Ray, Volume 3, 2015, pp. 257-271.
Smith, Tony. “Art as Something Vast.” Walkscapes: Walking as an Aesthetic Practice. By Francesco Careri, 2002, Aimes, IA: Culicidae Architecture Press, 2017, pp.112-113
Smithson, Robert. “A Provisional Theory of Non-Sites.” (1968) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 364.
Smithson, Robert. “A Sedimentation of the Mind.”(1968) Textures of the Anthropocene: Grain, Vapor, Ray, Volume 1, 2015, pp. 13-32.
Smithson, Robert. “Art and Dialectics” (1971) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 371.
Smithson, Robert. “Art through the Camera’s Eye” (1971) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 370-371.
Smithson, Robert. “Look” (1970) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 370.
Smithson, Robert. “Spiral Jetty.”(1972) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 143-152.
Smithson, Robert. “Untitled.” (1968) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 376.
Stelarc. “Beyond the Body.” (1988) The Sublime, edited by Simon Morley, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2010, pp. 213.
Taylor, Chris and Bill Gilbert. Land Arts of the American West. University of Texas Press, 2009, pp. 58-63, 94-95, 114-121, 189-194, 196-199, 203-213, 220-224.
Agamben, Georgio. “The Witness and the Archive.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 73.
Alys, Francis. “When Faith Moves Mountains.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 39-40.
Bowden, Charles. “Contested Ground: The Wisdom of Rats.” Orion, Nov/Dec 2009, pp. 18-25.
Careri, Francisco. Walkscapes: Walking as an Aesthetic Practice. 2002. Aimes, IA: Culicidae Architecture Press, 2017, pp. 25-32; 35-44; 48-50; 111-131.
Coolidge, Matthew. “The Bus Tour as Inverted Vitrine: Engaging with the Material Culture of the Museum of the American Land.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 43.
Coolidge, Matthew. “Center for Land Use Interpretation.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 33.
Halperin, Ilana. “Geologic Intimacy/Physical Geology.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 53.
Hofmann, Irene, Janet Dees, Candice Hopkins & Lucia Sanroman. Unsettled Landscapes. Santa Fe: SITE Santa Fe, 2015, pp. 35-37; 40-48; 77-79; 108; 122.
Kastner, Jeffrey. “Rich in Reference: Thought on Land Art’s Infrastructural Legacy.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 35-39.
Kelley, Bill Jr. “Reimagining Ceremonies: a Conversation with Postcommodity.” After All: a Journal of Art, Context, and Enquiry, Issue 39, Summer 2015, pp. 26-35.
Kuletz, Valeria L. The Tainted Desert: Environmental and Social Ruin in the American West. New York: Routledge, 1998, pp. xiii-xix, 20-37.
Lippard, Lucy. “Notes from a Recent Arrival.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 154-157.
Lippard, Lucy. “Peripheral Vision.” Land Arts of the American West, edited by Chris Taylor and Bill Gilbert, Austin: University of Texas Press, 2009, pp. 337-345.
Lippard, Lucy. Undermining: A Wild Ride Through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West. New York and London: The New Press, 2014, pp. 15-30.
Los Angeles Urban Rangers and Area Chicago. “Cartography.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 115, 140-145.
Matta-Clark, Gordon. “Statement.” Situation, edited by Claire Doherty, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pp. 33.
Morley, Simon. “Introduction: The Contemporary Sublime.” The Sublime, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2010, pp.12-21.
Paglen, Trevor. “Experimental Geography: from cultural production to the production of space.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 27-33.
Paglen, Trevor. “Frontier Photography: the Other Night Sky.” Artforum International, March 2009, pp. 224-229.
Paglen, Trevor, Iain Kerr, and Multiplicity. “Research and Development.” Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism. New York: Melville House, 2008, pp. 65, 71, 75-77.
Reisner, Marc. Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water. New York: Viking Press, 1986, pp. 1-15.
Reynolds, Ann. “At the Jetty.” Robert Smithson: Spiral Jetty. Berkeley and New York: University of California Press and Dia Art Foundation, 2005, pp. 73-76.
Scott, Emily Eliza and Kirsten Swenson. “Introduction: Contemporary Art and the Politics of Land Use.” Critical Landscapes: Art, Space, Politics. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2015, pp. 1-15.
Scranton, Roy. Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization. City Lights Publishers, 2015.
Sloterdjik, Peter. “The Anthropocene: A Process State on the Edge of Geohistory?” Textures of the Anthropocene: Grain, Vapor, Ray, Volume 3, 2015, pp. 257-271.
Smith, Tony. “Art as Something Vast.” Walkscapes: Walking as an Aesthetic Practice. By Francesco Careri, 2002, Aimes, IA: Culicidae Architecture Press, 2017, pp.112-113
Smithson, Robert. “A Provisional Theory of Non-Sites.” (1968) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 364.
Smithson, Robert. “A Sedimentation of the Mind.”(1968) Textures of the Anthropocene: Grain, Vapor, Ray, Volume 1, 2015, pp. 13-32.
Smithson, Robert. “Art and Dialectics” (1971) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 371.
Smithson, Robert. “Art through the Camera’s Eye” (1971) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 370-371.
Smithson, Robert. “Look” (1970) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 370.
Smithson, Robert. “Spiral Jetty.”(1972) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 143-152.
Smithson, Robert. “Untitled.” (1968) Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 376.
Stelarc. “Beyond the Body.” (1988) The Sublime, edited by Simon Morley, London: The White Chapel and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2010, pp. 213.
Taylor, Chris and Bill Gilbert. Land Arts of the American West. University of Texas Press, 2009, pp. 58-63, 94-95, 114-121, 189-194, 196-199, 203-213, 220-224.