IMAGE: Walter De Maria, Mile Long Drawing, 1968. Mojave Desert, CA. © 1968 Walter De Maria. Courtesy the Estate of Walter De Maria.

Fieldwork Artist Talk: Jennifer Burris

The Contemporary Austin presents artists, curators, and researchers in residence with Fieldwork: Marfa, an international researcher-in-residence program coordinated by ESBA Nantes Métropole and HEAD-Genève.

Emerging from a curatorial residency at Fieldwork: Marfa, Jennifer Burris presents a performative lecture incorporating sound fragments, archival material, and voice testimonials to explore the legacy of cross-pollination between electronic music and Minimalist sculpture in the 1960s and 1970s.

Anchoring this discussion is the little-known relationship between composer Richard Maxfield and artist Walter De Maria, whose interventions in the landscape—much like structures in music—examine intersections between constructed systems of mathematical order and natural contingencies of chance and experience.

A rare screening of De Maria’s Hardcore (1969, 29 min.) grounds Burris’s talk. The film is accompanied by recordings of two pieces of music that were originally performed and recorded by De Maria, Cricket Music (1964) and Ocean Music (1969).

Related Programs

Fieldwork Artist Talk: Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S. Davidson, July 16

Fieldwork Artist Talk and Concert: Erik DeLuca, August 12