Poster

Here's a poster I made a year ago for one of my classes that reminded me of our guest speaker, thought it might be appropriate to show:

Photo Search: Back alleys of Richmond

It's always hard for me to define earth art so I won't do it - Is this earth art? Here are some photos I took of spots I kept thinking about during the last week, enjoy~

The Line Between Architecture and Earth Art

This is Yancey Chapel. Its walls are made out of recycled tires. The other materials used are also recycled. I think the way the materials are used are extremely creative. Would this be considered earth art, architecture? Both? Where is the line drawn between earth art and architecture. Maybe this is how the "movement" of earth art has affected modern architecture.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Wrapped Coast

Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Wrapped Coast, Little Bay,
Australia 1968-69

"The cliff-lined shore area that was wrapped is approximately 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) long, 46 to 244 meters (150 to 800 feet) wide, 26 meters (85 feet) high at the northern cliffs, and was at sea level at the southern sandy beach."

Contemplation on Earth Art

Earth Art...is also known as earthworks or land art. It is art, made from nature. Earth Artists are expressing themselves through this free medium, paying homage to the land they came from. Some believe that land art is a form of protest or statement against the modern, "plastic" world. However, I disagree. Not all artists are always making a statement, sometimes they are trying to highlight certain things through art. A lot of what I've seen of Earth Art is people expressing themselves in a the most creative way, with their hands and the natural things around them. Its less about an art piece and more about the impression it makes on those who see it and the land itself.
Wikipedia's definition of Land art is: Land art, Earthworks, or Earth art is an art movement which emerged in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked. Sculptures are not placed in the landscape, rather the landscape is the very means of their creation. The works frequently exist in the open, located well away from civilization, left to change and erode under natural conditions. Many of the first works, created in the deserts of Nevada, New Mexico, Utah or Arizona were ephemeral in nature and now only exist as video recordings or photographic documents.


It's an interesting art form because in a way its a very spiritual and personal art form. It erodes, disappears. Nature is meant to have its way with it, there isn't the sacredness in permanence but in the way nature moves your piece.
Earth Art can also start some cometary on permanence. What is permanent? To us a painting, our homes, the planet all seem permanent. Earth Art many times highlights the fact that all things come to an end.

Some Earth Art

Valley Curtain by Christo and Jeane Claude. 1970-1972. What they do is refered to as "wrapping". Their website states,

Why wrapping?
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have done very few wrappings in comparison to their whole portfolio of artworks. Please notice how few of the works are wrappings, when you visit the index of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's photo collection.


It is easier for some to grasp the wrapping concept and refer to their artworks entirely as "wrapping", but the work is more about altering an environment than wrapping -- which is only one way to to that.

In my opinion, what is earth art?

Earth art can be many things. Because of this, it feels hard to summarize. Taking a stab at in anyhow, I feel that earth art happens when people rearrange the environment around us for the sake of making a statement or to exercise their creativity. One of the purest ways to sculpt, I find it fascinating because it is sometimes may be understated or outstanding based on your perspective, and always respectful the land it occupies.