Beyond Sunrise Mountain
a Project by David Sanchez Burr
About
Beyond Sunrise Mountain is an ongoing exploration of various subjects including: the human alteration of landscape, geological processes, the historical, social and political narrative in the south western region of the United States. The majority of the research and projects were completed in areas around the Sunrise Mountain east of Las Vegas, Nevada.
An Industrial Rainbow
The Sunrise Mountain Area is composed of a very deep and large gypsum sedimentary deposit, pyroclastic rock sandstone clays, sulfides and other mineral deposits. The area is also known to be called “Rainbow Gardens”. Pabco a gypsum board factory sits to the north. Nellis Air Force Base Area 2, a storage area for munitions that allegedly include nuclear weaponry, is north-east, Lake Mead is south. It is an area crossed north to south by high tension wires owned by Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, connecting a Utah power plant to the Southern California power grid. It is an area that is frequented by accidental death on the roadway. The often stereotyped image of southwestern abandonment is there complete with mountains of broken glass, boats on the side of the road, metal burn offs, (stolen copper wire melted down into ingots), bullet casings and other refuse. The meteorological conditions eat away at these remnants with grinding efficiency on a time frame that humans rarely have patience for. The corroding leaflet advertising massage services on the strip reminds one of the proximity to Las Vegas.
Beyond Sunrise Mountain Video Excerpt
Frontierism
Unlike the frontier of the 19th century, somewhere beyond the horizon where riches and fortunes were to be discovered, today we have quantified and mapped every square foot of the continent with exacting precision. Knowing where minerals are, and in what quantities, has not caused a desire to pace the exploitation process. The finite water supplies and sustainability of certain ecologies have been studied exhaustively for decades but the pace of development in the region continues to rise.
The projects I make here are a way of defining a sustained collaboration with the land drawing a perspective that although alteration is inevitable, we can change the intent of our use and cause it to be less damaging. The American landscape continues to be altered drastically, our current land use plans have changed little from frontierism mentality. I think that this approach has reached its course, and new, more sensible philosophies shall become prevalent.
Performances and Interventions
The land in this region causes one to be keenly aware of geography, geological process, and human intervention. Although the desert looks constant and rigid, one quickly finds out when looking carefully that the desert is time based on an epic scale, every geological processes and millions of years of land formation detailed in every rock protrusion and hill, the decay of human fragments caused by the meteorological conditions is a time based work, stretching and collapsing depending of material science, chemistry and physics. A post nature-archeological site. Collaborative projects have been made her with other artists. Some sound and video interventions were recorded.
Exhibits
While most of the projects happen and stay at Sunrise Mountain, a set of works derived from the experiences were put together as an exhibition at the Clark County Government Center Rotunda in Las Vegas. Each work represented an example of a project that might be completed at Sunrise Mountain.
Sunrise Mountain with Artist Craig Colorusso
Projects
Past (web development in progress)
Beauty is on the Inside too.
2007
Metasonic Series 2008-2010
ansurbana 1991-2001