I had always hoped to visit High Desert Test Sites, and the trip coincided with HDTS 2017, a semi-annual series of roving events that bring together artists responding to Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms, and the surrounding area of high desert.
This year’s iteration of High Desert Test Sites was built around ‘An Ephemeral History of High Desert Test Sites: 2002-2015’, a month-long exhibition focused on the project’s history. In addition, a pseudo-symposium titled The Palm Talks compliments the exhibition with live music and presentations on the topic of non-communities.
Alongside this, a ‘driving map’ guided us over the weekend to experience new projects and contributions from artists across the landscape, including: Carolyn Pennypacker Rigg’s season-specific ritual ‘Rite of Fall’ in the Trophy Modern Home (kitted out with fully functional furniture made from trophy parts), lunch and breakfast prepared with a swing set and a hole in the ground at the Hole Food Pit Stop, ‘Chill Out’ with Oliver Payne listening to KLF ambient house as the sun set over the desert, and a ‘Table Reading’ by Neil Doshi at Andy’s Gamma Gulch Site – where I finally got my vehicle stuck in the sand.
