Contemporary Albuquerque: A Cyber Artspace: Exhibits: Land Arts of the American West

Land Arts of the American West

March 2005

Contemporary Albuquerque announces a new exhibit for the month of March comprised of works by students who have participated in the Land Arts of the American West program, a collaboration between Studio Art at the University of New Mexico and Design at the University of Texas at Austin.

These students sign up to spend a month at a time exploring the American west as well as their own creative drive. They camp out at different locations, visiting existing land arts sites and creating their own work. Now in its fifth year, the program has educated and encouraged students through experiences not possible in the traditional classroom environment.

As these students return from their explorations, their work makes its way into Albuquerque's arts world. I became familiar with the program through an exhibit I curated called Contemporary Arts in the Public Realm which took place at 516 Magnifico Artspace in the spring of 2004. Works by five of the Land Arts students were presented in the exhibit, including a performance art piece by Blake Gibson and an installation by Jenn Hart. As I looked through the images offered to make a selection for this online exhibition, I realized that I had seen many of these images (or similar imagery by the same artists) around Albuquerque over the past few years. A piece by Erica Osborne juried into Albuquerque Contemporary, last year's regional show at the Albuquerque Museum, was created as part of the program, as was a ceramic piece in the exhibition by Liz Hunt.

The semester-long Land Arts course culminates in art exhibits both in Albuquerque and in Austin. The Albuquerque exhibit in December of 2004 was up for only a couple of weeks. Hopefully the work will make its way into the local arts venues so that it can be further experienced.

For more information about the program, and to see more works of art as well as pictures of the students' journeys, visit their web site.

>>Scroll right to see all images in exhibit>>

Ryan Thompson, Contrail, 2002

Gloria Haag, Cebolla Cruiser STX, 2003
Wood construction dragged behind a truck in Cebolla Valley, NM

Erika Osborne, Passing Through, 2003
Refrigerator and soil from Jemez, NM

Julie Anand, Encampment, 2002
Scale inversion project at Muley Point, UT

Brooke Stieger, Automatic Dream Theater, 2002
Hand made puppet, drawing and found material installation at the Dartmouth Street Gallery, Alb, NM

Jessica Murray, Goblin Girl, 2002
Temporary installation following torrential rainstorm at Goblin Valley, UT

Jenn Hart, Station, 2003
Ceiling deconstruction installation.

Kate Crowe, tinaja drawings (detail), 2003
Drawings based on the changing water lines in tinajas at Muley Point, UT.

Bill Gilbert, straightline (video still), Bonneville Salt Flats, UT, 2003

Julie Anand, Invasive Species: Lake Powell, formerly Glen Canyon, 2002, Lake Powell, UT.
Photograph of Blue Notch Mesa shot through a bowl of water.

Ryan Thompson , Etch-a-Sketch: Double Negative, Overton, NV, 2002
From a series of Etch-A-Sketch drawings executed on sites of major Earthworks.

Ledia Carroll, Untitled, 2003, photograph of ice, chair and tarp at Bonneville Salt Flats

Gloria Haag, Nest, 2003
Installation at Creative Research Lab in Austin Texas. built with crocheted twine and clay from Blue Notch, UT

Tori Arpad, locale: absorption, extraction, 2003
Sheets of paper soaked in water at El Vado Lake, NM, Lake Mead, NV, Bonneville Salt Flats, UT, Lake Powell, UT. Clay dug from the Bonneville Salt Flats, steel