February 1, 1987

The Vassar College Art Gallery presented an installation by video artists Steina Vasulka and Woody Vasulka, “The West,” which examined humanity’s relationship with the desert.

A text accompanying the work described some aspects of this relationship: “In no other region of the country does the presence of the sun play such a significant role in the ecology of the land—arid and eroded, with an exceptional clarity of the bright skies—forming notions of extraterrestrial importance in the minds of its inhabitants…The landscape, by its dimensions and by its geometric and textural variety, inspires men to create harmonious structures, dwellings, and other earth works.”

The Miscellany News