A Stake in the Mud, A Hole in the Reel. Land Art’s Expanded Field 1968–2008

Borrowing its title from the writings of Robert Smithson, this film and video programme revisited a selection of moving-image works that form part of the historical memory of Land Art, through and alongside more recent productions by contemporary artists. It was developed following an invitation to curate the Spring 2008 Panorámica video cycle for the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City, where it premiered on 1–2 April 2008. The programme toured to seven art centers in en Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

The film programme grew out of Latitudes' earlier editorial work LAND, ART: A Cultural Ecology Handbook (2006), in looking at the legacy of Land Art in relation with contemporary art practices and social and environmental ecology. A concern with remoteness, together with the powerful allure of specific sites, wove throughout the films, which were set in locations including the sewers of New York and Vienna (Gordon Matta-Clark, Hans Schabus), the deserts of California (Mario Garcia Torres), the mountains of the Basque country (Ibon Aranberri), and the beaches of Taveuni (Nikolaj Recke).

PROGRAMME 1 (1h 38min):

· Gerry Schum (1938-1973): ‘Land Art’, 1969. 32'. Incluye obra de: Richard Long, Barry Flanagan, Dennis Oppenheim, Robert Smithson, Marinus Boezem, Jan Dibbets and Walter de Maria.
· Nancy Holt (1938) & Robert Smithson: ‘Mono Lake’, 1968/2004. 19'54".
· Robert Smithson: ‘Floating Island to Travel Around Manhattan Island’, 1970/2005. 16'.
· Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978): ‘Substrait (Underground Dailies)’, 1976. 30'.

PROGRAMME 2 (1h 15min):

· Francis Alÿs (1959): ‘Cuando la fe mueve montañas (Making of)’, 2002. 15'.
· Donna Conlon (1966): ‘Country Road’, 2002. 1'29".
· Hans Schabus (1970): ‘Western’, 2002. 11'.
· Ibon Aranberri (1969): ‘Zuloa (Ir.T. nº513)’, 2004. 8'.
· Mario García Torres (1975): ‘Abandoned and Forgotten Land Works That Are Not Necessarily Meant To Be Seen As Art’, 2004. 7'.
· Thiago Rocha Pitta (1980): ‘Zênite invertido’, 2005. 11'54''.
· Maria Thereza Alves (1961): ‘The Sun’, 2006. 5'03".
· Damián Ortega (1967): ‘Reticencia al trabajo, Segunda parte’, 2006. 5'15".
· Nikolaj Recke (1969): ‘Tomorrow is today’, 2006. 3'.
· Jordan Wolfson (1980): ‘Landscape for Fire’, 2007. 7'.
· Cyprien Gaillard (1980): ‘Real Remnants of Fictive Wars VI’, 2008. 1'40''.