Wonder Valley Homestead
In 2018, Larson was invited to participate in a site-specific exhibition responding to a homestead owned by artist Andrea Zitel and AZ West in Joshua Tree, California. In this piece, Wonder Valley Homestead, he worked backwards from his process of replicating spaces and inflicting stress. Already full of strain due to time, neglect, squatters, and the desert heat, Wonder Valley Homestead is not simply an abandoned property, but a capsule, frozen in a moment of a dream-home unrealized. Looking upon the ransacked homestead, Larson unearthed and archived the story of what had once been. A difficult narrative of death and loss between two people in search of a quiet, happy life, Larson worked to establish dignity deep within the desert, in a place that had been without for almost twenty years. His intent was to reverse the architecture and interior bedroom to reclaim the hope that had once existed. He repaired the walls and ceiling, repainted the walls to their original color, cleaned the bedroom, organized books, and washed, dried, and hung up clothing as a study of the things we hold sacred.
First and last image courtesy of Chris Atkins