Introductory Statement
It is an exciting opportunity for Desert Initiative: Desert One (DI:D1) to partner with ISEA2012 Albuquerque: Machine Wilderness. Deserts are places of sublime beauty, savage conditions and spiritual power, of paradox and contradiction. At once seemingly barren and hostile, deserts are abundantly rich with specifically-adapted life forms, minerals and other resources. Deserts are home to many of the oldest cultures and civilizations in the world. Deserts are the laboratory of adaptation and resiliency for humans and non-humans. The activity and impact of human beings are inherently part of the continuum of natural, biological and geological forces. Human actions often change only at the point of catastrophic crisis: extinction, extreme climate change, depletion of finite resources. ISEA2012 showcases the incredible creative energy and intersections between art, culture, science, technology and nature occurring here, and highlights the pivotal role desert communities are playing in technological and cultural innovation, sustainability and stewardship. DI:D1 extends this investigation of the desert as a site of critical and creative inquiry by extending into and connecting the four desert regions of North America: Great Basin, Mojave, Sonora and Chihuahua. These deserts are the inspiration, subject and sites of exhibitions, lectures, commissioned projects, residencies and events that begin this month and continue through April, 2013. Art, in collaboration across all fields of knowledge and cultures, plays a central role in imagining, defining and creating the future of desert communities. Please visit us on-line and sign up for our newsletter to learn more about Desert Initiative: Desert One. Request a free road map and passport to guide you among the regional DI:D1 partners including ISEA2012. We invite you to join us on this journey. Educate. Collaborate. Explore. desertinitiative.org
Desert Initiative partners:
- SONORAN DESERT
Arizona Commission on the Arts
Arizona Museum of Natural History
ASU Herberger Institute for Design & the Arts
ASU Museum of Anthropology
ASU Art Museum
ASU School of Art
Center for Creative Photography
Heard Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson
Phoenix Art Museum
Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture
Shemer Art Center and Museum
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Scottsdale Office of Environmental Initiatives
Scottsdale Public Art Program
Salt River Project
Tucson Museum of Art
Tucson Pima Arts Council
University of Arizona Institute of the Environment
University of Arizona Museum of Art
& Archive of Visual Arts - MOJAVE DESERT
Arid Lands Institute
Center for Land Use Interpretation
High Desert Test Sites
Palm Springs Art Museum
UCR Sweeney Art Gallery - GREAT BASIN DESERT
Center for Art + Environment,
Nevada Museum of Art - CHIHUAHUAN DESERT
516 ARTS
The Albuquerque Museum of Art & History
Albuquerque Public Art Urban Enhancement Program
Art and Ecology, The University of New Mexico
El Paso Museum of Art
El Paso Museums & Cultural Affairs Department
Getting Off the Planet
Santa Fe Art Institute
ISEA2012 Albuquerque: Machine Wilderness
Stanlee & Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts
at The University of Texas at El Paso
Navajo Nation Museum
- Greg Esser is Desert Initiative Director ASU Art Museum, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts