Okay, not to be completely overshadowed by Desert X—which takes place in Coachella Valley, the Low Desert—the Joshua Treenial will be returning to the High Desert for its second iteration with “Event Horizon” from March 31–April 2, 2017.  Two dozen artists will be presenting installation, performance, sculpture, photography, and other artwork around BoxoHOUSE, a residency founded by Bernard Leibov in Joshua Tree, and nearby locations. Leibov did the curating along with K. J. Baysa, and they’re included artists who live in the area, as well as other parts of the U. S. and abroad.  (A criticism of Desert X has been that there are only a handful of artist on their list who live in the desert—Jennifer Bolande, Armando Lerma and Phillip K. Smith.) 

Seth Olinsky and musicians at The Integratron, Joshua Treenial 2015

 
The artists are working with environmental concerns.  “They are all within the duality of Event Horizon—rushing toward some point of no return/the possibility of something wonderful over the horizon,” he says.  “Most of the work references the desert directly, with several taking the night sky into account as a key element of the desert.”

Stephen Whisler, Walking the Bomb

Among the participants who live in the desert areas are Bob Dornberger, an alumni of High Desert Test Sites; Gerald Clarke, a member of the Cahuilla tribe who teaches at Idyllwild Art Academy; and Sant Khalsa, who has long been photographing topics related to water and our relationship to water in the desert.  Khalsa also has a 25-year retrospective of her work  at the Marks Art Center at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, paired with with a group photography show she curated called “Desert Waters” (both February 27—April 13, 2017).  Interestingly enough, these appear to be the only exhibitions dealing specifically with the all-important theme of water during Desert X and its parallel programs.

The Treenial also has some events programmed with the ever popular and weird Integratron in Landers and the Joshua Tree Astronomy Arts Center.  

Check it out @ http://www.joshuatreenial.com