Collaboration with Visual March to Prespes

Places of memory - Fields of vision

Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki, Greece

December 21, 2012 - February 24, 2013

Visual March to Prespes, working display of collaborative images

Land Arts of the American West collaborated with the Greek artist group, Visual March of Prespes, on a experiential exploration of the borderlands during our time in Buena Vista, El Paso, Texas. While conducting our Land Arts project, Cement Lake, which investigated an accidental wetland that sprouted up on the edge of Barrio Buena Vista, we held several skype conferences with Visual March of Prespes, discussing our investigations, methods, and discoveries. During one of the conferences, we took the Greek contingency on a live video walking tour of the Land Arts encampment and presented a live visual pan of our surroundings: pointing out the border fence, the contested and dry Rio Grande River, and the patchwork of residential, industrial, wetland, and highway networks.

Land Arts then selected ten images from the surrounding area of Buena Vista, El Paso, Tx, to send to Visual March of Prespes. These images were identified by participating artists as being representative of objects, environments, and moments engaging a discussion of borders.

Participating artists include: Eric Cook, Bill Gilbert, Jeanette Hart-Mann, KB Jones, Jeffrey Nibert, Eso Robinso, and Amelia Zaraftis.

Ameila Zaraftis

Buena Vista, El Paso, TX, USA. 2012.

"In, out; this, that; yours, mine; all under the same sky."

KB Jones

Cement Lake, Buena Vista, El Paso, TX, USA. 2012.

"The salt cedar provides a hiding place near the border of the US and Mexico, in the town of Buena Vista."

Bill Gilbert

Mount Christo Rey, El Paso, TX, USA. 2012.

"Petrified dinosaur prints from a time before borders, projecting out of a hillside along the Rio Grande, in El Paso."

Eric Cook

Monument #1, US/Mexico Border. 2012.

"This image portrays a political border, it is the border between the United States and Mexico."

Eso Robinson

Buena Vista, El Paso, TX, USA. 2012.

"This image depicts a section of the high-tension lines that both connect and cut through the town of Buena Vista, TX, representing a constant physical and a forceful unseen presence in this geographically and sociopolitically liminal community."

Jeanette Hart-Mann

Cement Lake, Buena Vista, El Paso, TX, USA. 2012.

"Memories of a home-run hit and a desire that punctures the boundary of immanent domain."

Jeanette Hart-Mann

Cement Lake, Buena Vista, El Paso, TX, USA. 2012.

"In proximity to a lost softball, I find a terrifying object, mysterious and strangely cannonball-like."

Jeffrey Nibert

Buena Vista, El Paso, TX, USA. 2012.

Jeffrey Nibert

Monument #1, US/Mexico Border. 2012.

Jeffrey Nibert

Buena Vista, El Paso, TX, USA. 2012.