High Desert Test Sites: The New Everyday Life, 2010

…is coming up soon – the latest endeavor organized by the legendary High Desert Test Sites founded by Andrea Zittel out in the stunning vastness around her place in Joshua Tree just 130 miles east of us in Los Angeles – here are the details, we hear that there are a few spots left…

Join us for our premier pilot weekend of The New Everyday Life, a lecture and workshop series that will commence Saturday May 1st-Sunday May 2nd 2010. In keeping with the HDTS mission to create truly alternative spaces for art that challenges traditional conventions of ownership, presentation and patronage, The New Everyday Life will bring together guest artists and participants whose talent and knowledge varies widely but who all share a desire to approach daily life with a blend of both experimental and practical thinking.    For our weekend-long symposium that includes four workshops and an open-air dinner, we will enroll twelve students in an immersive suite of 2 hour classes held in special locations in and around the Morongo Basin.

The New Everyday Live is an endeavor designed to both stimulate conversation and catalyze action by considering overlap between contemporary art and craft, sustainable living, survival skills, ecology and earth science, and cultural variation. Each participant in The New Everyday Life will leave with a new set of skills and inspirations, after intimately experiencing the Mojave desert’s unique context for life and living.

ITINERARY
Saturday May 1st
12:00. Meet for introduction and driving maps at the HDTS Headquarters in sunny downtown Joshua Tree.
12:30 – 2:30 Visit Wells Pollock in his school bus leather working studio encampment on the edge of the marine base and learn how to do bootleg leatherworking using readily available household tools and implements.
3:30 – 5:30 Hang out with Trinie Dalton at A-Z West Cabin and practice bookmaking stitches to make a book about your experience of the desert. (Note: Dalton will contact participants in advance about prep, supplies, and other details to maximize stitch-learning time. Beginners to advanced bookmakers welcome.)
6:30 – 9:30 Travel to section six with Chantale Doyle to learn more about how she lived for one year in her vegi-oil powered VW Vanagon while supporting herself by selling on ebay.
Dinner. Chantale will fix everyone an exotic fish taco dinner on her van’s cookstove.
Sunday May 2nd
12:00 – 2:00: Meet on the patio of A-Z West for a beer-making workshop with Katie Grinnan and a goodbye toast with her special honey basil, peach, and ginger brews.

LOGISITICS

Cost: The cost is $120 per person for the weekend that includes Chantale’s fish taco dinner. All proceeds are used to cover basic event expenses and to pay the speakers.

Enrollment: Due to the intimate nature of this event the group will be limited to twelve people. No application is needed, but spaces will be filled on a first come first serve basis.  If you would like to enroll please email info.hdts@gmail.com  – you will be emailed instructions so that you can pay via Paypal, the first 12 people who pay will be signed up for the course.

Lodging: A limited amount of campsites are available on Zittel’s property, and can be pre-arranged with the host on a first come, first serve basis.  Alternately, camping in Joshua Tree National Park or staying in a local hotel are excellent options. For lodging recommendations please visit the HDTS website’s Directions page.

For future updates and event listings for future incarnations of The New Everyday Life email us at info.hdts@gmail.com