In 2000, artist Andrea Zittel moved from Brooklyn, New York, to a property she purchased in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree National Park, where she established a home, studio, and “land. test ”called AZ West. In 2002, with her collaborators Andy Stillpass, John Connelly, Lisa Anne Auerbach and Shaun Caley Regen, she created High Desert Test Sites (HDTS) – a series of ephemeral and experimental site-specific projects, comprising sculptures, performances, workshops and intimate exchanges. . HDTS has become best known for its traveling biennial events, with facilities spread across locations that stretch from Joshua Tree to Albuquerque. HDTS also runs a residency program, hosts film screenings, produces publications, and runs community programs such as Kip’s Desert Book Club and High Desert Test Kitchen.

Recently, the Nevada Museum of Art’s Center for Art + Environment acquired the HDTS archives, which will now be made available to the public for the first time in the exhibition. Disruption in the Field: The High Desert Art of Andrea Zittel’s AZ West at the High Desert Test Sites, presented at the Museum from July 3, 2021 to February 6, 2022. Organized by Brooke Hodge, the exhibition will look back on two decades of HDTS activities, through more than fifty articles ranging from posters, zines, flags, and photographs documentaries with T-shirts, videos, sculptures and painted rocks sold at auction. In addition to the co-founders, the artists represented are Wade Guyton, Joel Otterson, Kate Costello, Aleksandra Mir, Raymond Pettibon, Shannon Ebner, Kristin Beinner James, Marie Lorenz, Christopher James, Jack Pierson and Julia Scher.

The exhibition is one of five that the Museum presents in its 2021 Art + Environment season, Land Art: Past, Present, Future. The season also includes virtual discussions and lectures from 23 distinguished speakers (September 23 – November 19), a live outdoor “transformation” in Las Vegas by Rose B. Simpson, and a publication by the museum and Monacelli d ‘a 256 pages, lavishly illustrated book, Gianfranco Gorgoni: Photographs of Land Art. In addition, the A + E Season site will publish an “exit interview” between Brooke Hodge and Andrea Zittel, on the occasion of a new management taking over the management of the association.

David B. Walker, CEO of the Nevada Museum of Art, said: “The artists associated with High Desert Test Sites have brought a community spirit, a strong sense of social and environmental dynamics, and an endlessly inventive experimental sensibility to contemporary land art. . . They achieved their goal of “challenging art to address new, relevant areas”. We are extremely proud to present this overview of two decades of their work in our galleries and our A + E season virtual chats. ”

William L. Fox, Director Peter E. Pool of the Center for Art + Environment, said: “This exhibition gives us an exciting opportunity to reveal some highlights among the fascinating materials of the HDTS archives, as a first glimpse of their riches. They take their place in this year’s A + E season along with other major archival holdings, from the G. Robert Deiro Land Art Archive Collection to the Judy Chicago Atmospheres archive.

About the Art + Environment Season

Organized under the auspices of the Nevada Museum of Art’s Center for Art + Environment, Land Art: Past, Present, Future will be presented from September 23 to November 19, 2021, offering multiple new opportunities for a global community of artists, scholars, writers, designers and art lovers to watch, speak and reflect on our interaction with the natural world and the built environment. In the years since its first presentation in 2008, the A + E Conference has gained international recognition as the premier event in its field, hosted in the state whose grounds have inspired historic and contemporary Land Art interventions. from the first monumental works of Michael Heizer and Walter De Maria to recent sculptures by Ugo Rondinone. The conference constantly sparked new research, sparked new ideas and helped forge productive partnerships. To learn more about the season and to subscribe, visit: nevadaart.org/conference2021.