Yucca Crater
At some point deep in the doldrums of winter, I stumbled upon an image of Yucca Crater at High Desert Test Sites in a design blog. Described as an "engineered oasis and climbing structure" by its maker, Ball Nogues Studio, Yucca Crater reaches 24 feet towards the desert sky. Rock climbing holds line the interior of the structure, leading to (brace yourself) an 8 foot cavernous pool of solar heated water. I'm pretty certain the image of people swimming below is real. More than any other "Oasis Motel" in Nevada or Utah, Yucca Crater has stretched my concept of a desert oasis.
One of several temporary projects of High Desert Test Sites, Ball-Nogues responded to a call for entries, and Yucca Crater was selected into High Desert Test Sites 2011. After a bit of web browsing I discovered that since 2001, High Desert Test Sites organizers have curated weekend long happenings where artists who have been invited to contribute a project gather in the remote desert outside of Joshua Tree, for an opening of sorts.
If you're an avant-garde art junkie like me, you might be wondering whether High Desert Test Sites is some kind of contemporary DIY manifestation of the 1960s and 70s Earthworks movement in America. Hmmm.
Stemming from a repulsion to the increasing commercialization of the NY art world, the earthworks artists decided to take their work outside of the museum and gallery. Craving nuance and a spiritual connection outside of NY, these artists journeyed to places previously unthinkable for creative activity. And if they were at all interested in an audience of viewers, they were bold in assuming that the art world was also ready to embark on what feels to me like an art-focused pilgrimage.
Instead of canvas and paint or marble, they used dirt, sand, steel, sun and air. Interestingly though, no matter how rebellious they might have felt, they remained true to the trends of the NY art world-- the Abstract Expressionists had made large-scale a characteristic of American art. Beginning in the late 1940s, writings about Pollock often described his vast paintings as resembling 'expanses of the American West'. The huge scale of the 60s and 70s earthworks (some viewable from space) suggest competition with the Abstract Expressionsts and the NY art world.
There are several intriguing 60s and 70s earthworks you can visit today, the two that are highest on my list are Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty (1970) and Walter de Maria's Lightning Field (1977).
Spiral Jetty in 1970 (click image to enlarge)
Located on the Great Salt Lake and fashioned of black basalt rocks and earth, Spiral Jetty coils 1500 x 15 feet. It juts into translucent dark-pink water (bacteria and algae growth produce this color) like a prehistoric desert creature. Smithson describes this work as an allusion to lost worlds and cosmology. He was also raised Roman Catholic and went through a phase of making religious art, noteworthy because 'pilgrimage' was a concept with which he was likely comfortable.
For nearly three decades the jetty lay slightly underwater; since 1999 drought has lowered the water level and exposed it almost completely. I've heard that today the jetty resembles a snowfield (below), resulting from the rocks being encrusted with salt crystals over time. Smithson was killed in a plane crash at the age of 35 while surveying one of his earthworks from above.
Walter de Maria's Lightning Field, (below) completed in 1977, is situated in a remote area of the high desert of New Mexico. Comprised of 400 stainless steel poles installed in the ground in a grid pattern, the sculpture is meant to be walked through during the day. At night, de Maria imagined something slightly more sublime-- a light show cast by mother nature.
An ideal visit to Lightning Field includes an overnight stay in a cabin on site, accessible only by reservation, and a view of lightning striking the steel poles. Like Spiral Jetty, the experience of road tripping to Lightning Field might in itself resemble a pilgrimage; an overnight stay all inclusive with a lightning show no doubt adds considerable drama and adventure to the experience.
Lightning Field, day and night (click images to enlarge)
Like the Earthworks movement, High Desert Test Sites states it exists to "explore the overlapping of contemporary art and everyday life and to challenge traditional conventions of ownership, property, and patronage. Most projects will ultimately belong to no one and are intended to melt back into the landscape as new ones emerge"
In contrast to the original Earthwork movement, which intended for a permanent presence, the organizers at High Desert Test Sites showcase a more playful and experimental purpose. They are less interested in being written into the canon of art history and more focused on process and visitor interaction (unsurprising within the context of a booming DIY culture). Yet pilgrimage to the desert is most definitely part of their vision.
For the 2011 High Desert Test Sites weekend, Yucca Crater was one of several installations with which visitors interacted. I'm assuming those with climbing shoes and bathing suits engaged with the sculpture, though little evidence exists. I contacted High Desert Test Sites to ask about the fate of Yucca Crater once the weekend happening was over. They told me that on April 27, 2012 (last week), they would hold a demolition party for Yucca Crater. The invitation reads, "The wooden structure will be cut up into smaller pieces and up for grabs (we know it's only April but come on by and stock up on firewood for the winter!)"
Although undoubtedly inspired by the Earthwork movement's contrarian spirit, High Desert Test Site's focus on community participation and play, differentiates it from the Earthworks movement, which was considerably more tied to the mainstream art world than it saw itself to be.
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