Patrick Kikut, Bill Fox, Shelby Shadwell

Pat and I were very fortunate to meet with Bill Fox today to view and discuss the role of the CLUI Archives in the Center for Art and Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art.  Bill, who is the author of many books and articles including Playa Works: The Myth of the Empty which has been influential reading for us at the residency, is working diligently on creating the definitive resource library for research on art and landscape at the Museum in Reno.  This collaboration between the Wendover Residence Program and the Nevada Museum of Art is huge.  Check out Bill’s book through the University of Nevada Press link below:

http://www.unpress.nevada.edu/Browse/Titles/Playa%20Works;1910;1271

Patrick and I collaborated on a performance and video out on the salt flats.  This photo is something of a preview.  I plan to generate a few more of these performances. 

The cold plunge is just a good old-fashioned desert necessity we’re leaving for future residents.

This is the most sure-fire way in the world to make a turkey.  It’s also known as “Hobo Turkey”. 

A key step is to brine the bird.  You can go straight to the cooking steps if you purchase a turkey injected with salt solution already.  You will need the following if you plan to brine your own turkey, which we highly recommend:

14 lb turkey (fresh or frozen)

decent sized bucket or ice chest

1 1/2 cups kosher salt

1 1/2 cups sugar or honey

2 gallons of cold water (divided)

ice if your bird is fresh

Other things to throw in the brine may include , peppercorns, cumin seeds, garlic bulbs, chilis, wine, cider vinegar, bay leaves, stock, lemons, limes, coriander seeds or anything flavorful you want to infuse in the turkey

On medium / high heat combine some of the water with the salt and the sugar and heat / stir until dissolved.  Combine this mixture with the water, turkey, ice, and any combination of optional ingredients in the bucket or ice chest.  Let sit for at least 8 hours or overnight, turning once or twice.

For the cooking of the turkey you will need:

1 lb of bacon

1 standard trash can or metal barrel (avoid interior paint and any plastics)

1 homemade metal spit of some kind (see pictures)

aluminum foil

twine

1 – 1 1/2 bags charcoal

Wash off and pat dry brined bird, and discard the brine.  Arrange turkey on a spit over ground (avoid concrete or metal surfaces).  You can arrange some aluminum foil on the ground below to catch drippings.  Give that turkey a bacon sweater and tie it together with twine.  Place the trash can over the turkey.  Light some of the charcoal in a chimney starter.  Arrange remaining charcoal on top and close around sides of the trash can.  Dump gray ashy coals on the top and sides of the trash can.  The whole thing will eventually ignite (though you can give it some help if necessary).  When the coals have burnt out, remove trashcan carefully, and the turkey will be perfectly cooked.  There is no need to time it, but it usually takes a couple of hours.

In addition to pioneer paintings exploring the gold mines of Nevada, Pat is engaging the landscape with a series of “Survival Boxes” that will be placed in key locations around Wendover.  These boxes will contain a variety of important items that may help one orient themselves in a survival situation but also ephemera that may help one interact with the unique environs of the salt flats.  The audience is random and is intended to be a catalyst for a visceral experience of decision making (to take as one’s own or not) and deep  contemplation.  There will be additional collaborative ”Survival Boxes” for archival and library purposes made. 

“Going into this residency, I was interested in accessing the Twin Creek Gold Mine in Northern Nevada.  I was hoping to capture some images to recreate into drawings and paintngs.  The mine offers artistic challenges in how to capture the enormous scale, colors, and interesting shapes of the operation.  I became aware that as an artist, I was whitnessing and rendering a newly opened Western landscape - the only new landscape that will be found in the West.  As a pioneer, I hope to return to the pit and set up for a more extensive painting session.”      

To say the least, the experience was incredible for both of us.  The sense of scale in terms of time and space is just difficult for the human mind to comprehend.  The photos included in the gallery can’t match the visceral sense of being in and above a mine about 1300′ feet deep and four miles long.  The resources necessary for humans to fundamentally alter the landscape so in a blink of geologic time constitutes a feat of epic proportions.  This engagement with impossible scale is something I will be exploring in my performance and video work moving forward, as it becomes increasingly clear that drawings alone can’t communicate such vastness.

Enormous thanks and gratitude to the Newmont Mining Corporation for allowing us this unique opportunity and especially Chief Geologist, Patrick Donovan who took the time and effort to give us an outstanding tour of the Twin Creek Mine.

Although I’ve been working on the red iron oxide drawings from trail camera imagery, they’re not resolving themselves in my mind, and I’m not going to show them until I can figure something out.  This place may be just be too big for these drawings, but I’m content with that.  I have a performance / video / installation I’m currently planning, and it feels somehow more ‘more or less’ authentic.  Fourth of July fireworks were basically awesome from the lookout tower.

Yesterday I spent the most part of the day in 99 degree heat and 60 mph wind working on larger paintings.  At about 4 pm gusts were getting stronger and blowing my brushes and paints off the table so I hurried to shut down the summer studio.  Just as I was finished moving inside a huge dust devil came accross the air strip and into the CLUI yard taking out the studio and the fence.  The painting in progress below was blown 25 yards down the road.  Shelby was caught naked emerging from a cold plunge and was pelted with gravel.  Both Shelby and my paintings survived with out serious damage.  When the wind stops in a few days we will rebuild (and secure) the studio and the fence.