Pitzer College Art Galleries presents 5 Distillations (Salton Sea), an exhibition of new works by Los Angeles-based artist Hans Baumann.
Organized by Ciara Ennis, the Galleries’ director and curator, 5 Distillations (Salton Sea) examines the political frameworks and biophysical processes that created—and now imperil—the largest body of water in the State of California. Drawing from empirical observation, archival research and the artist’s long-term collaboration with the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, this project reflects upon the inevitable collapse of a vast inland sea that has sustained the indigenous people of this region since time immemorial.
Hans Baumann is a Swiss-American artist and land art practitioner. His work addresses emergent energy futures, ecological collapse and nonhuman timescales, and he frequently collaborates with Native American communities in the Desert Southwest.
Baumann holds degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and Prifysgol Caerdydd. His projects and essays have been featured in a variety of publications, including e-flux architecture and The Invention of the American Desert (University of California Press). His work has been supported by institutions such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Antipode Foundation for Radical Geography and the Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI).
