Structural Geology and Tectonics Elizabeth Miller

Continuing Studies Land Art at Stanford

During the years 2000 and 2001, I co-taught continuing studies classes with artists Jim Mason (New Guinea Sculpture Garden at Stanford) and Mark Brest van Kempen. These unusual art classes traced the pathways of water from the Sierra Nevada into the deep lakes of the Great Basin during the last ice age. The class taught participants about the geologic, climate and human history of the regions we visited so as to inform and provide context for individual art projects in the outdoors while on a 4-5 day field trip.

Some of the art projects resulting from the first class: Mono Lake to Death Valley: An Artistic Exploration of Water from Ice Age to Arid Desert.

The first class was so successful it was followed by a second class that traced  the pathway of water from Lake Tahoe down the Truckee River and into ancient Lake Lahontan.

Topical map of Lake Lahontan
Pleistocene pluvial lake systems in the Great Basin. Lake Lahontan is the one in northwestern Nevada
One of the first group art projects: New York Times plastic bags were painted with fish skeletons and flew in the wind on the playa, an homage to the giant Lake Lahontan cutthroat trout that once lived here before the lake dried up, Lake Lahontan
One of the first group art projects: New York Times plastic bags were painted with fish skeletons and flew in the wind on the playa, an homage to the giant Lake Lahontan cutthroat trout that once lived here before the lake dried up.
Woman holding a pole in the wind, with blue plastic bag on the end
Lahontan Lake used to have cutthroat trout, which were a mainstay of the Paiute natives and were decimated by irrigation and sportfishing in the 30's and 40's.
Black and white photo of edge of Pyramid Lake, Lake Lahontan
Beautiful Pyramid Lake, the last remaining puddle of ancient Lake Lahontan. It is fed by the Truckee River, which begins in the Lake Tahoe basin.
Hand painted fish spine fossils on the playa floor with geology hammer for scale
The Lahontan cutthroat trout were celebrated in many of the art projects. Here they are, painted like fossils on the playa floor, geology hammer for scale.
Fish bones displayed in dry mud cracked playa lake surfaces
One participant fed us trout at Donner Pass then saved the bones and carried them with her for the rest of the trip, displaying them in various settings, including the dry mud cracked playa lake surfaces.
Blue cloth is stretched along an empty riverbed to represent water that used to be there.
Another participant brought a big role of blue cloth, representing water, and stretched it along dry arroyos.
Grass and blue paint are displayed to represent 'fleeting paradise'
Fleeting paradise. Mixed media (real grass), Dwight Harbaugh and Elizabeth Miller 2002
Old tire with rocks arranged around it as land art
Imbrication, E. Miller 2002, constructed at the pass between Smoke Creek Desert Basin and Pyramid Lake Basin. When Pyramid Lake filled to the pass, water once spilled over into Smoke Creek Basin and then ultimately to the Black Rock Desert Lakes.