"Without Land"
presents artifacts and documentation of walks taken by participants to the edge
of ‘the wild’ according their interpretation of that concept.
The Apex Gallery opens
a new exhibition at the South Dakota School of
Mines & Technology which encourages students and the public to explore
the point where they believe nature begins and civilization fades.
The exhibition, “Without Land,” is
a collaboration between the artist Altman Studeny and students from Modern and
Contemporary Art History at SD Mines.
Studeny, well known for his
collaborative and community-based artwork across the state, is also an art
instructor at Black Hills State University, Spearfish. For this project Studeny
wanted to collaborate with students to explore the wildland-urban interface. “As
an inquiry into human interaction with the landscape, ‘Without Land’ presents
artifacts and documentation of walks taken by participants to the edge of ‘the
wild’ according their interpretation of that concept,” says Studeny.
Participants are primarily students
in Deborah Mitchell’s art history class. Mitchell, an associate professor of humanities
and the curator of the Apex Gallery at SD Mines, invited Studeny to collaborate
with her students. Students traveled to a point where they believe nature begins,
took a picture, noted geographic coordinates and collected a rock from the
site. For the first part of this project, the rocks and photos will be
presented at the Apex Gallery.
At the conclusion of the
exhibition, a new group of participants will return all natural materials to
the sites of their collection. “This closes the loop of ‘Leave No Trace’ and
allows two strangers to share in another’s sense of sublime nature in a direct
and profound way,” says Studeny.
“Without Land” will be on display at
the Apex Gallery until April 27. The public is invited to the closing reception
from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, April 27. There will be a ceremony as participants who
wish to take part can collect a rock and its coordinates to return the stone to
nature.