Remapping the Desert: Phoenix

Remapping the Desert: Phoenix, an artist research project begun in spring 2008, is a result of F.A.R.’s focus on desert aesthetics.  By re-defining desert aesthetics, a new flashpoint for artistic production and knowledge is opened. The desert is both real and mythical – a force of nature and a force of imagination. The juxtaposition of the urban and the natural will provide unparalleled opportunities for exploration and exposition.

Artists and scholars from around the globe, particularly its desert regions, working with a broad range of traditional and non-traditional media and research methods, will be invited to Phoenix to create new work that “remaps” its complex social and cultural territory. Works in the project will vary broadly from applying new visual technologies, to mapping the “emotional state” of the city’s various neighborhoods, to uses of mobile devices (i.e. cell phones, ipods, et al.), to robotics, or to be experienced by physical engagements in real space. This variety of artistic responses will reflect the rich stories that define this community and its environment.

The full range of works and writing will be celebrated in the fall of 2010 through a series of installations, symposia and publications.