The Born and the Made: Big John’s Legacy

The Walking Box is a result of desert manipulation to create a space of habitation in the Mojave. But the representations of the rock gardens and the fireplace fall in between the two extremes of desert manipulation; the born and the made. These pieces of artwork are organically and vernacularly compatible with the greater Mojave desert.  Through the combination of public records, oral histories, photographs and conceptual sources ranging from news articles to scholarly texts, we can create a interpretation that combines the diverse environmental, cultural and historical aspects of this important site.

This is what the Great Room and the Inner Courtyard look like today. As you can see, the Great Room is empty, but it will not be empty for long. One of our goals this semester, Spring 2020 is to bring the mission furniture back to the Ranch. 

Our team of graduate students, led by Dr. Deidre Clemente and Dr. Andew Kirk, are working in collaberation with The Bureau of Land Management and the Friends of Walking Box to transform the ranch into an accessible, enriching historical site that the community can experience and learn from. 

Photos taken by our class on a visit to the Ranch October of 2019.