2018: Round 2

Space, Land, and Concept in Art of the American West has returned three years later with a new group of nineteen students (Alex, Alix, Aly, Carrie, Cassi, Celina, Demi, Gabby, Holly, Jacob, Joan, Kaiti, Katherine, Krystlyn, Lilly, Megan H., Megan S., Molly and Teddy). As before, we will study the art, culture, and mythologies that embody the West. This blog will continue to record our conversations and once the semester is over, it will document the journey that we will travel from Muncie, Indiana to Texas, the Desert Southwest and the Great Basin.

Once again, Lucy Lippard's Undermining: A Wild Ride Through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West was our starting point. Cultural and historical geography, despoliation through fracking and nuclear waste storage, Native American rights and tourism were all of interest to the group as we questioned what our roles as artists, art educators and art historians were in response to these issues. Many of us were concerned with the impact of the government's new regulations, future development, and whether or not earthworks were harmful to the environment.

Image via...

Kaiti asked: "What do our altered landscapes tell us about our society collectively and individually? As bystanders and as people taking part? We have watched countless people and places be ruined by our decision making in land use. How far is 'too far?' When and where will we draw the line?"

Demi wondered "Is land art useful?" while Alex contemplated "to what extent are we the place(s) where we grew up in?"

Teddy was curious whether or not "the museumification of earthworks was beneficial or detrimental to their purpose."

Mississippi Basin Model from the CLUI website

We also dove into the Center for Land Use Interpretation's website, database and publication, Overlook: Exploring the Internal Fringes of America through the Center for Land Use Interpretation. We learned how altered landscapes like stylized representations of a portion of the earth (the Mississippi Basin Model), show caves as tourist destinations, intentionally drowned towns, military domination of the land, and transgressive communities like Slab City and Burning Man inform who we are as a society.