The HDTS Mission:
The
High Desert Test Sites are a series of experimental art sites
located along a stretch of desert communities including Pioneer
town, Yucca Valley, Joshua tree, 29 Palms and Wonder Valley. These
sites provide alternative space for experimental works by both
emerging and established artists.
The
Experiment:
1.
To challenge traditional conventions of ownership, property and
patronage. Most projects will ultimately belong to no one, and
they are intended to melt back into the landscape as new ones
emerge.
2.
To “insert” art directly into a life, a landscape
or a community where it will sink or swim based on a different
set of criteria than those of art world institutions and galleries.
3.
To encourage art that remains in the context for which it was
created – similar to the intentions early site-specific
art, before “site specific” became something that
could be retailored for any location. Works that will be born
live and die in the same spot.
4.
To initiate an organism in it’s own right - one is bigger,
richer, and less organized than the vision of any single artist,
curator or architect.
5.
To create a “center” outside of any preexisting centers.
Inspired by groups like the Modern Institute in Glasgow, or Forcefield
in Providence RI, which aren’t, based so much on the cache
of living in an existing cultural capital so much as their ability
to make a center around themselves in whatever location they happen
to be in.
6.
To find common ground between contemporary art and localized art
issues.
7 . To run on a zero budget. The High Desert Test Sites receives
no funding – nor does it seek any. The organizers and artists
themselves pay for all expenses. As a result of the zero budget
policy there is a necessity to find new ways to convey meaning
and create experiences through the most economical means. The
most successful works are often casual, experimental and somewhat
offhand.
8. To contribute to a community in which art can truly make a
difference. HDTS exists in a series of communities that edge one
of the largest suburban sprawls in the nation. Most of the artists
who settle in this area are from larger cities, but want to live
in a place where they can control and shape the development their
own community. For the time being there is still a feeling in
the air that if we join together we can still hold back the salmon
stucco housing tracts and big box retail centers. Well maybe.
If
you would like to stay abreast of HDTS updates, events and projects
send an email to mailinglist@highdeserttestsites.com
