2002-2004

We were living and working in NYC, could not afford to pay rent for a studio. We had applied for studio residencies in NYC, but were rejected. We searched for solutions. One day we discovered that there was land for sale on ebay, the online auction house. Some pieces of land – mostly located in the American West – started with a $1 bid, and one could bid on them based on photographs “taken in the area.”

We reasoned that if we could experiment with ways of “access,” we could use an Acre of land as a remote studio. We thought we could use an Acre-sized desert lot like painters use a canvas. Once we won the bid for a 1.1. Acre, in September of 2002, site unseen for $456 in Utah, we wanted to test the particulars of the real estate gentrification model that was pushing us out of our apartment in Brooklyn.

We developed the following plan and followed through.

1. Buying the cheapest land available
2. Finding/locating the actual lot – new frontier
3. Temporary Use: International Studio Program “Bergblick” (January – July 2003) – gentrification
4. Infrastructural Improvements: “Train Stop Inn” (August 2003) – connection
5. Public Auction to sell the lot for a profit (November 2003) – profit