It may be over, but it is not yet forgotten - HDTS CB08
We like to send out a belated, but deeply heartfelt, thank you
to the volunteers and participants who made it happen:
To the California Biennial Curator and the team:
Thank
you Lauri Firstenberg and to LA><ART and For Your Art!
To
the artists:
Hannah Greely, Jonathan Hernandez, Patrick Jackson,
Alice Konitz, Joel Kyack, Ann Magnuson, Thom Merrick, Yoshua Okon,
Jack Pierson, Ry Rocklin, Julia Scher, Marnie Weber and the Spirit
Girls, Wonder Valley Institute of Contemporary Art, Amy &
Wendy Yao's Art Swap Meet
To the staff and organizers:
Alexandra Wetzel our new and amazing administrative
director, Shaun Regen our most enduring and supportive founding
organizer, David Dodge for our publication design and Chris O'Hurley
our intern.
And
to our volunteers - without you we could not do what we do:
Sarah Nesbit and Alex
Aram Moshayedi
Tellef Tellefson
Christian Hacket
Thomas Stevenson
Daniel Pelt
Daiana Feuer
Sarah Williamson
Stacy Bengtson
Heather Harmon
Kate Kendall
Chris Bott
Anna Beck
Laura Lawler
Faith Purvey
Carole Frances Lung
Sarah Haughton
Stephen Walters
Tiffany Barber
Joy Anderson
Cesar Garcia
Alex Romano
Drew Dencker
Jessica Mellen
Lucas Clauser
Senna Chen
Tessa Helgerson
Alexandra Stapleton
And last but not least, thank you to Mary, Laura and James at
the Palms
Announcing
HDTS CB08:
On
November 7th, 8th and 9th, 2008, The High Desert Test Sites will
host an expanded desert event in connection with the California
Biennial.
Under the vision Lauri Firstenberg, curator of this year’s
California Biennial, the exhibition has expanded beyond the scope
of the museum to engage venues and sites from as far south as
Tijuana, and as north as San Francisco. As a non-institution dedicated
to the encouragement and support of art that "lives in the
world" HDTS will host the following artists for a three day
event.
HDTS
CB08 is affiliated with the 2008 California Biennial, organized
by the Orange County Museum of Art.
HDTS is produced for CB08 with LA><ART Public Art Initiatives
and Foryouart.
The map is now available in two downloadable parts:
Click
here for Western
sites and Eastern
sites
*Project
descriptions, and the program of events will
be available at the HDTS HQ and information center next to Coyote
Corner on Park Blvd in downtown Joshua Tree. (the directions page
tells you how to get to the high desert from just about anywhere)
HDTS
CB08 Artists Include:
Hannah
Greely
Jonathan Hernandez
Patrick Jackson
Alice Konitz
Joel Kyack
Ann Magnuson
Thom Merrick
Yoshua Okon
Jack Pierson
Ry Rocklin
Julia Scher
Marnie Weber and the Spirit Girls
Wonder Valley Institute of Contemporary Art (WVICA)
Amy & Wendy Yao's Art Swap Meet
Check out the
swap meet website
If
you would like to stay abreast of HDTS updates, events and projects
send an email to mailing
list@highdeserttestsites.com
* We are also looking for responsible, sturdy, fun volunteers
to manage the HDTS headquarters and to help various artists with
their projects throughout the weekend. If you are willing to help
please email Alex at alex.hdts@gmail.com.
PLEASE
NOTE: The High Desert Test Sites is a multi-site event. Attendance
is at your own risk. By attending the HDTS, you agree to assume
sole responsibility for any risk and to release anyone associated
with the HDTS, the CABiennial 08, and LAX from all claims relating
to any injury, damage or loss you may suffer or cause while in
the desert. Thank you - and have a great time!
Announcing: The Moab Video Project by Christy Gast
The
Moab Video Project is a year-long curatorial project
organized by artist Christy Gast, for a TV station
in Moab, Utah. Moab, a small town nestled in
a green valley between unimaginable red sandstone cliffs, was
settled by farmers in the 19th century, and began booming during
the age of uranium mining. The town consists of a business district
along the highway, with neighborhoods squeezed on either size.
Because of the cliffs, its growth is limited. Tourism is the main
industry, and people come from all over the world to see Arches
National Park, where Ed Abbey wrote Desert Solitaire.
In
2006 Christy spent the summer in Moab exploring the wilderness
and tending a big garden - during that time she met the owner
of Mac 21, an extremely local television channel. It was the first
channel in the world to have a cable news broadcast. The signal
from the nearest news channel didn't reach Moab because of its
geographic situation, so the cable channel started broadcasting
an all-volunteer news program. They covered the county commission
meetings in a seriously in-depth manner. Needless to say, the
commissioners weren't impressed. They covered Jeeps getting stuck
on the sides of cliffs, Christy says that she has seen amazing
footage of the newsreader reporting on this. The first cable news
broadcast was extremely microcosmic.
Christy
helped Jim from Mac21 set up his new studio and taught him how
to use Final Cut Pro. Now Mac21 doesn't need to cover the news
anymore--there are other accessible outlets--but there are long
features on the Chinese restaurant, mountain biking safety, and
homes for sale, always shot with these incredible cliffs in the
background. After returning to NY she proposed to curate a short
video program for Moab, which turned into a year-long project.
Mac21 is now airing one artist's video every week for the year
of 2008. The videos are inserted into normal programming, and
each video is broadcasted once every hour or so for one week.
Much of the impetus for this project was inspired by the singularity
of the setting, and the mythology of landscape. Christy says that
when she looks at videos for the program, she tries to think about
watching them in a motel room. “Sometimes I have specific
people in mind. Sometimes I imagine the desert watching.”
All videos are less than 5 minutes long and follow FCC regulations.
www.christygast.info
www.moabvideoproject.org
