The Center for Land Use Interpretation - Learning to Live With the American Landscape: Residencies at The Center For Land Use Interpretation
by Fionn Meade

(published in Artist Trust's Journal, Winter 2004)

The investigation of a specific site is a matter of exacting concepts out of existing sense-data through direct perceptions...One does not impose, but rather expose the site... The unknown areas of sites can best be explored by artists." --Robert Smithson, as quoted in Lure of the Local, by Lucy Lippard

If there is a more innovative residency program for artists in the United States, I haven’t heard about it. Daring, conceptual, a bit eccentric, but astonishingly committed to significant inquiry, the Center for Land Use Interpretation is—for all its rarity—straightforward about its goals and means. Their multi-faceted activities are “dedicated to the increase and diffusion of information about how the nation’s lands are apportioned, utilized, and perceived”, and, as a research organization, they employ “a variety of methods to pursue its mission.”

Founded in 1994, CLUI has developed ongoing partnerships with other organizations and satellite locales, including but not limited to their work in establishing the American Land Museum (a network of landscape exhibition sites being developed across the United States). Nevertheless, the heart of their operations has been and continues to be centered around their home base outside of Wendover, a town that straddles the border between Nevada and Utah while also edging up to the Great Salt Lake Desert. The town itself has the odd distinction of having lived two separate lives, the gambling boom town of Nevada’s Wendover, and the stagnated Utah half, dominated by the cluttered remains of an airbase which was built at the beginning of WWII and abandoned by the military in 1977.

Working from the prinicipal idea that our man-made surroundings contain social and historical narratives regarding habitation that need to be teased out, CLUI has adopted a multi-disciplinary approach to investigating land use, drawing on natural sciences, sociology and, above all, art and artful approaches to inquiry. In addition to their seminal Land Use Database, a collection of source material and edited information on unusual and exemplary land use in the United States (which is partially available online at their website and endlessly fascinating), and their ongoing exhibition space in Los Angeles, CLUI offers a residence program at Wendover “open to artists, researchers, theorists, or anyone who works with land and land use issues in an innovative and engaging manner.”

Successful applicants to the residence program primarily work out of the CLUI facilities at Wendover and are asked to propose and produce work related to the unique and inspiring geographic region, which includes the Great Salt Lake and its desert and salt-flat environs. During the course of the residency (from three to eight weeks depending on the proposal), residents produce work with themes related to the area, work that will then be exhibited at the Wendover exhibition hall for up to one year (and possibly be included in traveling exhibits). The work coming out of their residence program, along with the CLUI curated exhibits, are truly compelling and can be further read about on CLUI’s extensive website. Indeed, the depth of research and breadth of ongoing projects that CLUI is engaged with and/or stewards requires more than one visit to their website and a much longer profile than this to properly relay. You should really take a look for yourself. For instance, the results from the database for Washington State alone are worth a visit.

And if you are interested in applying to the CLUI residence program, make sure to take a look at their website for details on how to apply and likewise read carefully the section “This Is Not the Romantic American West”, as this aviso makes clear why this program isn’t for everyone. For those intrigued not wary, the application process is ongoing and relatively easy. In addition to a one-page proposal regarding work to be done while a resident, CLUI asks for an up-to-date resume, recent work samples, and a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you’d like materials returned. Additionally, special consideration may be given to projects that have received matching funds. Applications are also welcome from collaborators or groups who wish to work together on projects. Once accepted, residents are given $250 per week plus partial support for travel to and from the residency, and for project materials. CLUI does, however, recommend traveling to the residency by car as many of the most intriguing sites in the Great Lake area are spread out over considerable distances.

For more information on CLUI, the Land Use Database, ongoing CLUI exhibits and projects, and to apply to the CLUI Residence Program, please visit www.clui.org.