May 21, 2019
Born and raised
in NJ, Adriene's first experience with the desert happened after
moving to Los Angeles in the late 80's. She and a friend took a
trip to Baja, CA. Adriene says she immediately felt, 'this is where
my bones will end up." and has been in love with the desert ever
since.
After returning
to the east coast to obtain her graduate degree, Adriene returned
to the west coast and having visited Joshua Tree with friends from
Los Angeles in the late 80's, decided the hi-desert would be a
great place to have a sanctuary in which to write and create. Those
were the days before the park received it's National Park
designation and one was able to go into the park and camp for any
length of time for free.
In this
episode, Adriene says reliable internet was one of
the things that precipitated a big shift in population here in the
Morongo Basin. Prior to that people loved to come up, but it was
difficult to find work - the internet changed that. And because
there were fewer conveniences, like larger grocery stores or home
improvement stores, inhabitants relied more on each other. No city
or county structures were set up as they are now. And Rancho
de le Luna, known as a music recording studio now, was more of a
crossroads of creatives of more than just music. Adriene believes
the artists culture in Joshua Tree survives because in the late
80's and 90's artists were able to rent to buy homestead cabins for
$100 a month, while the owners would hold the mortgages.
Adriene's most
recent project combines art and performance. Her ECOtarot deck,
climate change tarot cards, are used at events around the country
to bring awareness to the issue of climate change and to help
people see what their actions, no matter how small, can do to
help.
Teaching four
months of the year at Arizona State University, where she serves as
Professor of Intermedia in the School of Art, Adriene returns to
the hi-desert, sometimes with students in tow, spending the
remainder of the year at her home in Twentynine Palms. Her computer
and media art spans three decades, including pioneering work in
interactive cinema and live telematic performance.