Two Rivers and a Desert in Between is an elaborate narrative and cinematic meditation on the “West” as an imaginary geography, more idea (or ideal) than place. The project involves the creation of a regional epic narrative set in a specific section of the American Southwest—between the Rio Grande and the Rio Pecos, between southern New Mexico and western Texas. Extending the cultural, economic and imperial histories of the region, the narrative is organised as a fictional story-cycle.
Provincialising the “West” by placing the region into a much larger series of contexts, the project materially and imaginatively traverses multiple narrative and artistic genres, from the conventions of the Western and science fiction, from sculpture and performance art to cinema. The project aims to foreground the “problems” of the West and its role in shaping the American consciousness, and aims to address the role cultural production plays in the construction of historical periodisation, identity, imperial knowledge and scientific truth.
An initial research and production phase of the project was undertaken in November 2012 as part of Fieldwork: Marfa, an awarded research residency initiated by three European universities (ESBA in Nantes, HEAD in Geneva and the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam), which supports emerging artist/researchers whose projects require immersion within the specific environment of the American Southwest. The project has since been exhibited as part of the group show ‘Electric Fields’ (with Donald Judd, Larry Bell, Mai-Thu Perret) at the HEAD, Geneva and has featured in the culture magazine TAR (Apr 2013). A research residency at Art Center Pasadena, in which Toran organised a symposium and worked with students to produce the project’s next iteration occurred in September 2013. The resulting work was exhibited at the Galerie des Galeries, Paris, in the show ‘The Tyranny of Objects’ (October 2013).