Itinerary*May 16 Virtual Meet up in Zoom
May 23 Fly to Salt Lake City
May 24 Spiral Jetty
May 25 Bonneville Salt Flats, Sun Tunnels
May 26 Center for Land Use Interpretation, Bingham Copper Mine Overlook, drive to Moab May 27 Arches/Canyonlands hike; drive to Mesa Verda National Park
May 28 Cliff Dwellings hike at MVNP
May 29 drive to Fort Garland, CO, hiking and Great Sand Dunes NP star gazing
May 30 Making land art
May 31 Making land art June 1 Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO, fly home June 5-7 Working remotely on finishing artwork June 8 Install work on campus *Tentative dates and itinerary, subject to change |
Course DescriptionThis two to six credit Field Studies Learning Community will develop concepts and skills in drawing and site-specific art while exploring major works of Land Art in Utah. Day trips to iconic works such as Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels, Ancestral Pueblo Cliff Dwellings, as well as trips to the Center for Land Use Interpretation, Mesa Verde National Park, 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 responsive work for a site-specific location in Colorado. 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, and installation.
Students must be prepared to walk/hike for several hours each day in the sun, sometimes at higher altitudes. Access to a cell phone with internet service and camera is highly recommended for this course. |
Must co-enroll in two classes.
Choose one of the following: ART- 2217 Art and Nature (3 credits), ART-1100 Intro to Visual Art and Culture (3 credits), or 1823- Art Experiences across the US (1 credit) AND Choose one of the following: ART-1102 Drawing 2 (3 credits), ART-1823 On Location Site Specific Art and Installation (for 1 credit or 3 credits) Registration opens in October of 2022. Please register early to ensure you seat! Fee:$1885 (Includes airfare, double occupancy hotel, entrance fees, transportation in the Southwest, most breakfasts; tuition is extra.) |
TopicsScale, Time, Entropy
Read Smithson’s essay on the Spiral Jetty. What does Smithson say about entropy? How is entropy evident in the earthworks? Where do you see physical or other evidence of time’s passage and/or timelines on this trip? How does scale play a role in the experience of entropy within a landscape? Consider the points of view of being “on top of” or being “inside of” a landscape in relation to the work and sites we have visited. How do these points of view impact our sense of time, scale, and entropy? How do our experiences of time, scale, and entropy differ in our daily urban/suburban setting? Use at least 4 examples of artwork or experiences to illustrate your points. Landscape, Land Management, Conservation, & Stewardship What are the origins of the word “Landscape”? What does the word imply? What are the pros and cons of land or resource management such as the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Services? 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, referencing our readings and discussions. How is Michael Heizer’s Double Negative (or other land art) different from Bingham Canyon Mine? 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
Using Paglen’s “Experimental Geographies” as reference point, what does it mean that humans “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? Give examples. What roles do tourism, agriculture, industry, and military play? What spaces do you participate in? 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. The Sublime As we often see in social media posts or even in landscape paintings of the American West, there is a certain glamor to national parks and other outdoor natural spaces. Beyond the surface level beauty, there is a sublime quality as well. Describe a location we have visited in terms of the beauty and terror of the sublime, referencing at least one of the definitions in Simon Morely’s “Contemporary Sublime.” Go beneath that initial beauty of the vista to question, research, and discuss the systems at play in a location; include multiple points of view. What might be a “contemporary sublime” concept related to this type of location? 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 indigenous ideas related to land, using our readings and discussions as examples. How does technology influence and mediate your relationship to land? Give at least 3 examples. How has your understanding of land and land use evolved over the course? |
Suggested Related Events:
Streaming Event:
Rebecca Solnit at the New Mexico Museum of Art with an in-conversation with Lucy Lippard
More info here.
Streaming Event:
Rebecca Solnit at the New Mexico Museum of Art with an in-conversation with Lucy Lippard
More info here.
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.
- Class reader
- Backpack
- Sunglasses
- Brimmed hat
- Foldable cooler bag
- Water bottle/camelbak
- Earplugs
- Medications
- 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)
- Plastic bags for wet clothes, shoes, desert bathroom breaks, etc
- Hiking boots & hiking socks (merino wool recommended)
- Waterproof bag (could be as simple as ziplock bags)
- Camera/camera phone, solar charger
- 9x12" ish 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 $1885 + Tuition
Includes airfare, double occupancy hotel, entrance fees, transportation in the Southwest, most breakfasts. Tuition is for 2-6 credits. In District Tuition Total:$140/credit Out of District Tuition Total: $327/credit All students must take the course for credit. Pass/fail option available. Payment plans available. For more information, email [email protected]. |
Reading List
Prior to Trip
Smith, Tony. "Art as Something Vast," 1966.
Careri, Francesco. Walkscapes, (excerpts, read pp 14-28), 2002.
Solnit, Rebecca. “The Shape of a Walk,” Wanderlust, 267-276, 2001.
Masco, Joseph. “Desolate Dreams,” The Invention of the American Desert, 21-38, 2021.
Day 1
Kastner, Jeffrey. "Rich in reference: thoughts on land art’s infrastructure and legacy," Experimental Geography, 35-39, 2008.
Morley, Simon. “Introduction: The Contemporary Sublime,” Sublime, 2010.
Smithson, Robert. Excerpts from Spiral Jetty, Collected Writings.
Day 2
Coolidge. "CLUI," Situation, 71-72, 2009.
Coolidge, Matthew. "The bus tour as inverted vitrine," Experimental Geography, 43, 2008.
Massey & Nisbet. “Introduction,” The Invention of the American Desert, 1-11, 2021.
Day 3
Kuletz, Valerie. "Chapter 2," The tainted desert: environmental ruin in the American West, 20-37, 1998.
Swenson, James. “The Excavated Sublime,” 2023.
Day 4
Paglen, Trevor. "The Other Night Sky", 1-4, 2008.
Yang, Andrew S. “Kinshape,” Planet, 22-29, 2022.
Reisner, “Introduction,” Cadillac Deserts, 1-15, 1986.
Day 5
Horton, Jessica. “Air, Wind , Breath, Life: Desertification and Will Wilson’s AIR (Auto-Immune Response),” The Invention of the American Desert, 39-59, 2021.
Saraceno, Tomás and Erik Morse. “Art in the Aerocene,” Art Agenda, November 2020.
Liu, Jasmine. “What do native artists think of Michael Heizer’s new land art work?” Hyperallergic, September 21, 2022.
Day 6
Scott and Swenson. “Introduction,” Contemporary Art and the Politics of Land Use, 1-13, 2015.
Hopkins and Sanroman, “Inverted Landscapes”, Unsettled Landscapes, 2015.
Nicholas Brown,“The Vanishing* Indian Repeat Photography Project,” in Critical Landscapes: Art, Space, Politics, edited by Emily Eliza Scott and Kirsten Swenson (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015).
Day 7
Lippard, Lucy. Undermining, 15-30, 2006.
Lippard, Lucy. "Notes from a Recent Arrival," 1995.
McPhee, John. “Angular Unconformity,” Basin and Range, 1981.
Day 8
Daur, Julia. “Where the Queer Wild Things Are.” Edge Effects, February 2, 2021.
Todd, Zoe. “Indigenizing the Anthropocene,” Art in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Aesthetics, Politics, Environment, and Epistemology, 241-254, 2015.
Day 9
Hall, Laura. “My Mother’s Garden: Aesthetics Indigenous Renewal, and Creativity,” Art in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Aesthetics, Politics, Environment, and Epistemology, 283-290, 2015.
Halperin, Iliana. “Geologic Intimacy/Physical Geology,” Experimental Geographies, 2008.
Paglen, Trevor. “Experimental geography: from cultural production to the production of space,” Experimental Geographies, 27-33, 2008.
Smith, Tony. "Art as Something Vast," 1966.
Careri, Francesco. Walkscapes, (excerpts, read pp 14-28), 2002.
Solnit, Rebecca. “The Shape of a Walk,” Wanderlust, 267-276, 2001.
Masco, Joseph. “Desolate Dreams,” The Invention of the American Desert, 21-38, 2021.
Day 1
Kastner, Jeffrey. "Rich in reference: thoughts on land art’s infrastructure and legacy," Experimental Geography, 35-39, 2008.
Morley, Simon. “Introduction: The Contemporary Sublime,” Sublime, 2010.
Smithson, Robert. Excerpts from Spiral Jetty, Collected Writings.
Day 2
Coolidge. "CLUI," Situation, 71-72, 2009.
Coolidge, Matthew. "The bus tour as inverted vitrine," Experimental Geography, 43, 2008.
Massey & Nisbet. “Introduction,” The Invention of the American Desert, 1-11, 2021.
Day 3
Kuletz, Valerie. "Chapter 2," The tainted desert: environmental ruin in the American West, 20-37, 1998.
Swenson, James. “The Excavated Sublime,” 2023.
Day 4
Paglen, Trevor. "The Other Night Sky", 1-4, 2008.
Yang, Andrew S. “Kinshape,” Planet, 22-29, 2022.
Reisner, “Introduction,” Cadillac Deserts, 1-15, 1986.
Day 5
Horton, Jessica. “Air, Wind , Breath, Life: Desertification and Will Wilson’s AIR (Auto-Immune Response),” The Invention of the American Desert, 39-59, 2021.
Saraceno, Tomás and Erik Morse. “Art in the Aerocene,” Art Agenda, November 2020.
Liu, Jasmine. “What do native artists think of Michael Heizer’s new land art work?” Hyperallergic, September 21, 2022.
Day 6
Scott and Swenson. “Introduction,” Contemporary Art and the Politics of Land Use, 1-13, 2015.
Hopkins and Sanroman, “Inverted Landscapes”, Unsettled Landscapes, 2015.
Nicholas Brown,“The Vanishing* Indian Repeat Photography Project,” in Critical Landscapes: Art, Space, Politics, edited by Emily Eliza Scott and Kirsten Swenson (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015).
Day 7
Lippard, Lucy. Undermining, 15-30, 2006.
Lippard, Lucy. "Notes from a Recent Arrival," 1995.
McPhee, John. “Angular Unconformity,” Basin and Range, 1981.
Day 8
Daur, Julia. “Where the Queer Wild Things Are.” Edge Effects, February 2, 2021.
Todd, Zoe. “Indigenizing the Anthropocene,” Art in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Aesthetics, Politics, Environment, and Epistemology, 241-254, 2015.
Day 9
Hall, Laura. “My Mother’s Garden: Aesthetics Indigenous Renewal, and Creativity,” Art in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Aesthetics, Politics, Environment, and Epistemology, 283-290, 2015.
Halperin, Iliana. “Geologic Intimacy/Physical Geology,” Experimental Geographies, 2008.
Paglen, Trevor. “Experimental geography: from cultural production to the production of space,” Experimental Geographies, 27-33, 2008.