LAKE TAHOE
Walking, Drawing, Mapping: A Collaboration across Art and Geography
The fourth Drawing in Social Space project extended the partnership to Geography and Art students at the University of NevadaReno, working with Moroccan artist AZ OOR, and testing the design of Drawing in Social Space outside an urban context.
AZ OOR posed questions to the group, such as: What is a line? What does it mean to draw from above? AZ
OOR cited a concept developed by Moroccan sociologist Paul Pascon, that explored the difference between ‘water from the sky vs. water from the state.’ AZ OOR’s aim was to raise consciousness of maps as a means of controlling and organising the world. The arid climates of Marrakech
and northern Nevada enabled participants to specifically explore mapping as a means to manage access to water.
Through walking, drawing, mapping, talking, and collaging, participants related the history of water management in Marrakech, to the relationship between two Nevadan lakes that are connected by the Truckee river: Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake. Tahoe is a popular tourist destination;
Pyramid is on protected indigenous land. Working across disciplines, a variety of methods were explored to collect, record and measure information, and these revealed complexities to do with conservation and reparation. These became the basis for comparative discussions and creativity.
Thank you to everyone involved:
Noureddine Ezarraf, AZ OOR, Qanat Collective
Kelly Chorpening, Professor and Chair of Art, UNR
Monica Maccaux, Associate Professor Graphic Design, UNR
Kate Berry, Professor of Geography, UNR
Adam Csank, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography, UNR
Paul White, Associate Professor Geography, UNR
Rick Parsons, Director of the Holman Arts and Media Center, UNR-Lake Tahoe.
Mikayla Dimulias, BFA Graphic Design student
Alejandra Griswold, BA Geography student
Cryssa Jaggers, BFA Graphic Design student
Bobby Lee, MFA Art student
Betta Manalo, MA student, Geography
Hannah Potts, BA Geography student
Jacob Rosenbaum, BA Geography student
Hannah Saitz, BFA Graphic Design student
Kylee Santos, BFA Graphic Design student
Holly Strasser, BA Art and English student
Anna Newman, MFA Art student
Jasmine Munoz, BFA Art student
Drawing in Social Space 4 was created and bound at the Black Rock Press, University of Nevada, Reno, Summer 2023.
The University of Nevada, Reno is situated on the traditional homelands of the Numu (Northern Paiute), Wašiw (Washoe), Newe (Western Shoshone), Nuwu (Southern Paiute) peoples. We extend our appreciation for the opportunity to live and learn on their territory.
