The World's Longest Poem, Part 2 -- Atacama Desert

William L. Fox

Photography by Jerry Moore

Jerry and I fly into Antofagasta at 7:30 a.m. and land on its astonishingly lunar surface. There’s no other airport like it: the blue ocean, the waves on the rocky shore, and then two hundred feet above the breakers the flat gray sands of the Atacama with not so much as a saltbush disturbing its tabular…

The World's Longest Poem, Part I -- Santiago, Chile

William L. Fox

The first sheet from the Pissis Atlas, Mapa de la Republica de Chile published in 1884, showing Antofagasta on the coast, and the Solar de Atacama to the east and under the shadow of the Andes. This is the territory that Jerry Moore and I will be traversing.


Chile is so narrow a country that when you fly into Santiago…

Philip Johnson Glass House, Connecticut

William L. Fox

Philip Johnson House, photograph by Erik Johnson
I’ve always thought of the Philip Johnson Glass House, designed by one of the founding fathers of modernism, as a single transparent structure hovering on the edge of a perfect lawn in New Canaan, that swanky Connecticut town where Cary Grant attempted to build his own arcadia i…

The Canary Project: Bloomington, Indiana

Glacial, Icecap and Permafrost Melting: Cordillera Blanca, Peru, 2008. Photography by Susannah Sayler.
New York photographer Susannah Sayler read an article by Elizabeth Kolbert about climate change and began in 2006 to photograph sites where the change was manifesting dramatic change. The glaciers of Austria and Peru, coral reefs in the P…

Land Arts of the American West, Wendover, Utah

William L. Fox

One of my favorite annual trips is out to the twin towns of Wendover/West Wendover, Utah and Nevada, respectively, which abut the state line where Interstate 80 hits the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI) maintains a couple of trailers there, and leases buildings on the WWII-era airbase, which used to be the largest military installation in the world. It’s where the Land Arts of the American West programs come to work each fall, a chance for me t…

Artist Jean-Claude Passes Away

Half of the famous husband-and-wife duo, one of the artists behind "The Gates," has passed away at the age of 74, of complications arising from a brain aneurysm. " Jean-Claude will be remembered wide…

Lordy Rodriguez on Surface Depth

The Nevada Museum of Art exhibition Lordy Rodriguez: Surface Depth features beautiful and fanciful maps meticulously drawn by artist Lordy Rodriguez. On Sunday, July 19, Rodriguez spoke with me about the work installed in the exhibition. Listen to the artist's comments about his work here.…

Dominic Miller's TURBINE SONGS

Artist Dominic Miller has created an online archive of his project, Turbine Songs, addressing Uranium Mining and its impact upon the Navajo Nation. Learn more on the project site: http://www.turbinesongs.net

"As the impact of uranium mining continues to unfold, the Diné struggle to remain in contact with the land they have always inhabited. Audio recordings were done in participants’ homes, discussing the feelings and history surrounding mining. Transcripts of the interviews are made available through the website. Recording was done in cooperation with Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Society.

The photographic section of the website portrays the uranium industry’s environmental legacy alongside the stark natural beauty of the region. Captions provide specific information about clean-up efforts and introduce the participating interviewees. To coordinate an exhibition of the images please write: info@turbinesongs.net " from http://www.turbinesongs.net

UPDATES FROM THE NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART

Travels with William Fox, C A+E Director The World’s Longest Poem, Part 1--Santiago, Chile Follow Fox as he shares his travels and discoveries at home and abroad on the CA+E social network. In this excerpt, Fox travels with anthropologist Jerry Moore to explore Raul Zurita’s 3.17-kilometer-long ni peña ni miedo, located in Santiago, Chile. Meaning “neither pain, nor fear”, Zurita’s work is literally the longest line of poetry in the world. more >

Author Jeff Gordinier Imagines the Future with GenX Part of the continuing Art + Environment Conference series Watch the Art + Environment Conference session "What's neXt: Artists Imagine the Future", featuring author Jeff Gordinier and GenX artists Katie Holten, Kianga Ford, Jason Houston, and Fritz Haeg. Gordinier's recent book X Saves the World, suggests that Gen X innovations in art, technology, and activism have come to define the way we live today. Discover how these GenX artists, designers and writers create work which aspires to change the way people view and experience the world. Part of a continuing series of videos documenting the 2008 Conference. more >

Artist Katie Holten Talks Nature and Landscape Highlights from “What’s neXt: Artists Imagine the Future” A native of Ireland, Katie Holten creates artworks that bring people together to investigate humans’ impact on the natural environment. Here, Holten presents her works and methods to the Art + Environment Conference 2008. Often made from recycled materials, her thoughtful renderings of maps, plants, and ecological phenomena encourage dialogue on issues ranging from biodiversity to global warming. more >

Black Rock Design Institute Presents Eric Strain | assemblageStudio, Inc. Thursday, January 21 / 6pm Join BRDI at the Museum for an exciting opportunity to meet Eric Strain, founder of architecture firm assemblageStudio. Established to bring attention to the architecture of Las Vegas, work through assemblageStudio has garnered a remarkable 18 awards for design excellence in both the public and private sectors including the AIA Nevada Young Architect Citation in 1996, the AIA Nevada Service Award in 1999 and the AIA Western Mountain Region Young Architect Award in 2004. Meet other guests for networking and beer from Silver Peak Brewery at 5pm, before the lecture at 6pm. more >

Leur Existence - Tree Project at the THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK GALLERY

December 9, 2009 - February 12, 2010
Hiroshi Sunari
Leur Existence - Tree Project

Opening Reception
Wednesday, December 9th
6pm to 8:30pm

Over 60 years ago, the city of Hiroshima was decimated by one nuclear bomb. Hibaku trees, those that still live from the time of the atomic bombing, have shown an inspiring ability to persevere. Since 2005, Sunairi has been collecting seeds from hibaku trees in Hiroshima and has distributed them to nearly 400 Tree Project participants in 23 countries. Leur Existence – Tree Project will feature a selection of these plants, which have been donated by the participants, as well as photographic and written documentation of the process. Plants will be presented in ceramic elephant-foot pots, designed and created by the artist.

Curated by Chris Murtha. Click here to view the press release (pdf). For more information email cmurtha@hsny.org or call (212) 757-0915 x121.