Art On The Road In a historic year for Land Art, Miranda Sawyer takes the viewer on a 3000km road trip across the U.S. in a 1965 Ford Mustang convertible, exploring famous artworks, ordinary people, and the spectacular landscape they share For More4, SkyArts or BBC Four For a mature/educated target audience, 30-60 years, with a general interest in arts and culture (specialised knowledge not necessary)
Four half-hour films presented by Miranda Sawyer, shot in cinematic HD, that take the viewer behind the wheel on the wide-open road of America. With breathtaking views of iconic land art works, and exclusive interviews with key land artists, the series will also explore the people and places that make up this rich landscape. Capturing the epic beauty of snow-capped mountains, through lush greenery into red clay rock formations followed by great dusty plains, and finally the open desert, this tour takes in a landscape as beautiful and monumental as the art itself. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Robert Smithsonʼs Spiral Jetty, perhaps the worldʼs most celebrated Land Art work, and will also see the hugely anticipated grand opening of James Turrellʼs Roden Crater project, his most ambitious work, over thirty years in the making. Inspired by these significant dates, Miranda Sawyer will take the British viewer from the Great Salt Lake to Marfa via Utah; through Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, culminating in the great state of Texas. Of course, a road trip would not be complete without the other great American icons: cheap motels, Vegas casinos, and roadside diners. in the spirit of her witty travelogue Park and Ride: Adventures in Suburbia (1999). The series consists of four films arranged thematically according to the geography and major artists involved. “The Lake by the Smithsons”, “The West by Michael Heizer”, “The Volcano by James Turrell”, and “The South by Donald Judd”. The first film, “The Lake by the Smithsons”, first flies the viewer in under the shadow of the Wasatch mountain range that flanks Salt Lake City, Sawyer drives out to the Great Salt Lake where she will meet local community expert Lynn de Freitas to climb the small lakeside hill and look down on Spiral Jetty, discussing the Jettyʼs legacy at 40 and the current controversies surrounding the work and its preservation. They then travel further inland to Sun Spots, a work by Nancy Holt, who is also Smithsonʼs wife. (The Route.A,B)
Delving deeper into the American West, the second film, “The West by Michael Heizer”, takes us through the red rocks of Nevada, and the desert communities found there. The film follows Sawyer as she visits two of Michael Heizerʼs works, The City, a work not yet open to the public, and Double Negative, an astounding crater cut 1500ft deep into the earth. She will meet local Native Americans about their relationship with the land, for whom this art has become part of their daily experience. (The Route.C,D)
In the third film, “Volcano by James Turrell”, we journey south for the hugely anticipated opening of James Turrellʼs Roden Crater. Begun in 1978, the work is set in a 400,000year-old, 4.8 km wide volcano crater, which Turrell has transformed into a natural observatory to view solar and night-sky celestial phenomena. Sawyer will talk to Turrell about his extraordinary new work, following the setbacks and celebrations as it prepares to open to the public for the first time. In contrast to the tranquil beauty of the desert, the episode closes with a visit to the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip, where Sawyer experiences a very different kind of nightlife. (The Route.E)
The final film, “The South by Donald Judd” takes us deep into the Southern landscape, the backdrop of countless Hollywood road movies, to Texas for infamous spectacles, Cadillac Ranch (ten Cadillacs half-protruding from the earth) and Floating Mesa (a ʻfloatingʼ hilltop, created by eccentric millionaire Stanley Marsh III). After a brief visit to Walter de Mariaʼs Lightning Field, our journey ends at Donald Juddʼs Marfa, and the Chinati foundation, a huge complex of studios, land sculpture and exhibition spaces, dedicated to supporting large-scale public art. Sawyer speaks to the artists-in-residence and communities at Marfa, and to director Virginia Lebermann about the present and future of land art. The series ends with rare footage of the ʻMarfa ghost lightsʼ, a natural phenomenon visible on clear nights looking south from the town. (The Route,F,G,H)
Miranda Sawyer has written and presented several TV and radio documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC on contemporary art and culture, and was recently appointed to the Tate Membersʼ Council. Her book, Park and Ride: Adventures in Suburbia (1999) has been reprinted several times and adapted for BBC Radio 4.
The Route
A. Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson B. Sun Tunnel by Nancy Holt C. Double Negative by Michael Heizer D. City by Michael Heizer E. Roden Crater by James Turrell F. Lightning Field by Walter de Maria G. Cadillac Ranch by Chip Lord, Doug Michels and Hudsen B. Marquez H. 15 untitled works in concret by Donald Judd
A. Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson
B. Sun Tunnel by Nancy Holt
C. Double Negative by Michael Heizer
D. City by Michael Heizer
E. Roden Crater by James Turrell
F. Lightning Field by Walter de Maria
G. Cadillac Ranch by Chip Lord, Doug Michels and Hudsen B. Marquez
H. 15 untitled works in concret by Donald Judd