DESERT SUN - 1986
Van Sant set out his high-accuracy mirror stations on flat ground in the Alabama Hills, CA, to reflect sunlight back to the sensors of a GOES-6 satellite. Scientist William Evans, Van Sant's collaborator based in Los Altos, CA. processed the resulting satellite images. The National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) provided transmission and reception of the digital information from the satellite via a GOES-6 telephone tap line that had been installed at the site. The satellite provided an image every 30-minutes, which registered the work as a blinking light.
Desert Sun was part of a collective project made by Sky Artists affiliated with the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS), including Otto Piene, Elizabeth Goldring, Charlotte Moorman, and Christopher Janey, that had the overall title of Desert Sun/Desert Moon. Desert Sun was “a sequel to Reflections from Earth and Eyes on Earth from Space.” [1]
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Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA
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1986
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N/A
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48 mirrors, each 2 feet by 2 feet; GOES satellite
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11 ft. x 12 ft
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Unknown
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N/A
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No image made by the work – digital or print – has been found.
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From top:
With the help of other Sky Artists, Van Sant installed the mirrors for Desert Sun, Alabama Hills, CA Photographer unknown, TVS digital records.
Screenshot, Smithsonian World episode “Elephant on the Hill” (1987
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As a result of Reflections from Earth, TVS met Otto Piene, Director of the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) who coined the term “sky art” in 1969, and CAVS Fellow Elizabeth Goldring. The three become close friends and collaborators, and Tom became a significant participant in the Sky Art movement, presenting at the 1981, ‘82, and ‘83 SKY ART Conferences.
As described by conference co-organizer, Elizabeth Goldring:“Following discussions at the Munich SKY ART Conference [1983], a skeletal proposal was drawn up for a group project, Desert Sun/Desert Moon, with events, installations and performances radiating out horizontally and vertically like spokes of a wheel measuring about 3 miles in diameter on the desert floor. Van Sant offered his nearby home in Independence, CA, as headquarters for the project.” [2]
Desert Sun/Desert Moon was funded by a $35,000 grant to MIT CAVS from an NEA pilot program, the “Program Initiative for Interdisciplinary Artists.” As described by the NEA Annual report, 1985: “Desert Sun – Desert Moon is a temporary performing sculpture/installation, three miles in diameter, constructed in seven “spokes” on a desert floor. Environmental artists Lowry Burgess, Paul Earls, Dale Elored, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Tal Streeter, and Tom Van Sant will collaborate on this large-scale new work.” [3]
The final participants are: “Lowry Burgess, Joe Davis, Paul Earls, Dale Eldred, Elizabeth Goldring, Ron Hays, Charlotte Moorman, Otto Piene, Tal Streeter and Tom Van Sant. Christopher Janney served as a participating artist and as project manager, organizing shipping and travel, general operation, work crew and logistics for installations and performances. David Atherton, Shawn Brixey, Laura Knott and George Numrich were involved both as participating artists and as a partial support crew, along with a crew of 15 others.”[4]
Desert Sun/Desert Moon was filmed by a seven-strong television documentary crew. Their footage is used in the Smithsonian World episode “The Elephant on the Hill” (1987), a report on new digital communications technologies, and an exploration of their relationship with contemporary art.
[1] Elizabeth Goldring, "Desert Sun/Desert Moon" and the SKY ART Manifesto, Leonardo, Vol. 20, No. 4, 20th Anniversary Special Issue: Art of the Future: The Future of Art
[2] Elizabeth Goldring, "Desert Sun/Desert Moon" and the SKY ART Manifesto, Leonardo, Vol. 20, No. 4, 20th Anniversary Special Issue: Art of the Future: The Future of Art
[3] National Endowment for the Arts, Annual Report, 1985, Washington, D.C, Division of Publications
[4] Elizabeth Goldring, "Desert Sun/Desert Moon" and the SKY ART Manifesto, Leonardo, Vol. 20, No. 4, 20th Anniversary Special Issue: Art of the Future: The Future of Art
