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Allan McCollum:
SIGNS OF THE IMPERIAL VALLEY
January 22 – March 3, 2001
Project Website: click here
Reception for the Artist
Friday, 20 October, 6:00 to 8:00 PM
University Art Gallery
Allan McCollum: Signs of the Imperial Valley
is sponsored in part by inSITE2000; the School of Art. Design and
Art History; the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts;
and the fund for Instructionally Related Activities. Additional
support is provided by the San Diego State University Art Council.
Artists in the exhibition
Allan McCollum
Joanne Adell
Manuel Aguilar
Mary Alexson
Maricela Alvarado
Francisco Arias
Artist unknown
Douglas Bliven
Milton Brummett
S.V. Bunnell
José Castillo
Kate Palese
Carlos Coronado
Enrique de la Cruz
Opal Eshelman
Jorge Estrada
Rubén García Benavides
Rosa María Gaxiola
Ruth Hernández Ortiz
Shelley Lannan
Gary Liggett
Celia López Arguilez
Bella Mancilla de Silva
Jordan Mora
Julio I. Morales
Rodrigo Muñoz
Kate Palese
Rogelio Pérez Cano
Cuauhtémoc Rodríguez Piña
Antonio Rodríguez Tapia
Julio Ruíz
Ginger Ryerson
Austreberto Silva
Tom Spradling
Anastasia Vellas
Patrick Waters
Marvin Wieben
Anita Williams
About the Exhibition
Dinosaur tracks in the roofs of Utah
coal mines, fulgurites* from central Florida, a dog’s form captured
in the hardened ash of Pompeii—all have been subjects of Allan McCollum’s
work, and vehicles for his investigation of the phenomenon by which
objects, including artworks, acquire meaning. Born in Los Angeles
in 1944 and currently living in New York City, McCollum is interested
in the process that bestows value on "things," both natural
and manmade. His current project, commissioned by inSITE2000, extends
his study of an object’s accumulation of meaning to include a community’s
construction of its public identity. McCollum suggests that the
way an artist develops meaning in his or her artwork parallels the
procedure by which individuals and groups establish communal significance.
At the same time, an artist seeking recognition by curators, collectors,
dealers, critics and viewers is seen by McCollum as participating
in the same quest as a community striving to project a winning image
to the society-at-large.
McCollum’s joint examination of the ways in which both objects and
communities accrue cultural importance was pursued in the Imperial
Valley/Valle de Mexicali, an expansive desert region east of San
Diego County and spanning the U.S./Mexico border. The artist was
drawn to this area for two reasons. First, he was inspired by the
strange geological formations, known as sand spikes, found at the
base of Mount Signal/El Centinela, a prominent feature of the area’s
landscape that itself straddles the international boundary line.
Thousands of these ancient sand spikes were formed as concretions—grains
of sand cemented together with crystalline calcite—and lay together
at the foot of the mountain, pointing westward, until they were
excessively collected throughout the 20th century. Today the sand
spikes can only be found in museums and private collections.
The second allure of the desert valley for McCollum was the youth
of its towns and cities. The region’s burgeoning municipalities,
such as Brawley, Calexico, Calipatria, El Centro, Heber, Holtville,
Imperial, Mexicali, Niland, Seeley and Westmorland, were established
in the early 20th century, coincident with a major irrigation project
that brought water to the desert. Because these relatively new communities
are still in the process of developing their identity, McCollum
perceived an opportunity to contribute, in some small way, to the
region’s formation of its cultural iconography through collaboration
with the individuals, institutions and businesses that inhabit the
Imperial Valley/Valle de Mexicali.
The result of McCollum’s collaborative involvement
with the valley’s residents was the organization of three exhibitions
that focused on the sand spikes of Mount Signal/El Centinela. Through
these exhibitions, presented concurrently at three area institutions
in October 2000, the artist conjoined his simultaneous exploration
of the evolution of meaning in artworks, natural objects and communities.
Signs of Mount Signal at the Steppling Art Gallery, San Diego State
University—Imperial Valley Campus; The Return of the Sand Spikes
at the Imperial County Historical Society Pioneers Museum; and El
Cerro del Imposible at the Museo Universitario, Universidad Autónoma
de Baja California each featured a variety of art and artifacts
related to the region and assembled through a concerted community
effort.
For the exhibitions, McCollum played a dual role
as curator and artist. He invited local artists in the Imperial
Valley/Valle de Mexicali to exhibit drawings, paintings and photographs
appropriate to the exhibitions’ theme; he included regional memorabilia,
area postcards, and logos from valley businesses and institutions;
and he featured actual sand spikes from his and others’ collections.
In addition, McCollum produced and displayed over one thousand replicas
of a sand spike from the Pioneers Museum collection and an equal
number of small models of Mount Signal/El Centinela. He also oversaw
the construction and installation of a sixteen-foot version of the
sand spike and a large model of the mountain. Lastly, McCollum created
a set of sixteen informational booklets that were derived from historical
and scientific articles on sand spikes and the mountain
McCollum has combined the three exhibitions
at the University Art Gallery. This culminating presentation celebrates
the Imperial Valley/Valle de Mexicali community’s affection for
its local mountain and raises awareness of the community itself
in people from outside the area. Importantly, the sand spike and
mountain replicas, created to function as souvenirs for the region,
are intended to promote the natural and cultural features of the
valley for years to come. And after its appearance in San Diego,
the large sand spike will be permanently installed as an outdoor,
site-specific sculpture and "roadside attraction" on the
grounds of the Pioneers Museum. Through his complex project, McCollum
has created memorials to the valley’s geological past, while participating
as an interested outsider in the ongoing development of its residents’
collective identity.
* A fulgurite is a glass-like tube
produced by the fusion of loose sand or rock by lightning.
Tina Yapelli
Director, University Art Gallery
San Diego State University,
San Diego, California
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