Land art, also referred to as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an artistic movement that originated during the 1960s and 1970s, primarily linked to Great Britain and the United States yet also manifested in numerous other nations. As a trend, "land art" redefined the parameters of conventional artistic practice through its choice of materials and the siting of its works. The materials frequently incorporate natural elements, such as indigenous soil, rocks, flora, and hydrological features found on-site, and the locations are typically remote from urban agglomerations. Despite occasional inaccessibility, photographic records are routinely exhibited in urban art galleries.
The movement's core tenets involve a repudiation of art's commodification and an embrace of nascent ecological awareness. Its inception paralleled a societal trend favoring the rejection of urban environments and a corresponding appreciation for rural existence. These tendencies also encompassed spiritual aspirations regarding Earth's role as humanity's abode.
Form
This art form gained prominence during the 1960s and 1970s, largely because land art resisted commodification, contrasting sharply with the era's "mass produced cultural debris." During this era, its proponents eschewed conventional museums and galleries as artistic venues, instead conceiving monumental landscape interventions that transcended the scope of portable sculpture and the commercial art market, notwithstanding the frequent exhibition of photographic documentation within standard gallery settings. Land art drew inspiration from Minimal Art and Conceptual Art, as well as modern movements such as De Stijl, Cubism, and the broader aesthetic of minimalism, and the works of Constantin Brâncuși and Joseph Beuys. Herbert Bayer, who created Grass Mound in Aspen, Colorado, in 1955, is recognized as an early practitioner of earthworks.
Although Land Art formalized as a movement in the 1960s, its conceptual roots extend to ancient traditions of hill figures and geoglyphs. The Litlington White Horse in East Sussex exemplifies a 20th-century earthwork, realized via a 'subtractive' technique involving the excavation of a hillside to expose the underlying natural chalk. Its site-specific nature means its configuration is determined by the downland's gradient, necessitating continuous upkeep to prevent encroaching vegetation from obscuring the image—a central tenet in the interplay between Land Art and the natural world.
Numerous artists affiliated with land art previously engaged with Minimal Art and Conceptual Art. Isamu Noguchi's 1941 design for Contoured Playground in New York City is occasionally considered a significant precursor to land art, despite the artist himself categorizing his creation as "sculpture" rather than "land art." His impact on contemporary land art, landscape architecture, and environmental sculpture remains discernible in numerous current artistic endeavors.
Alan Sonfist adopted an alternative methodology for engaging with nature and culture, reintroducing historical ecological elements and sustainable art practices into New York City. His seminal work, Time Landscape, comprises an indigenous forest he cultivated within New York City. Sonfist developed additional Time Landscapes globally, including Circles of Time in Florence, Italy, which chronicles the land's historical utilization, and another at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum near Boston. In 1969, critic Barbara Rose observed in Artforum that Sonfist had grown disaffected with the commodification and insularity characteristic of gallery-based art. Dian Parker, writing for ArtNet, conveyed Adam Weinberg's assessment that "The artist’s ecological message seems more timely now than ever," with Weinberg, director emeritus of the Whitney Museum of American Art, further noting: "Since the ’60s, [Sonfist has] continued to push forward his ideas about the land, particularly urgent right now with global warming all over the world. We need solutions to climate change not only from scientists and politicians but also from artists, envisioning and realizing a greener, more primordial future."
Contemporary environmental principles and conservation initiatives from the 2010s and 2020s frequently conflict with the foundational ethos of certain land art, which was designed to integrate into the natural environment and succumb to entropic forces, exemplified by Spiral Jetty. Paradoxically, the existence of these human-made structures can inadvertently foster environmental protection. Recent endeavors to conserve land art raise questions regarding its initial intent and its inherent susceptibility to alteration, including eventual disappearance. As one observer noted, "The spiral jetty is surely a quaint monument…But the impulse to rescue and preserve it defines it as fine art like nothing else. Don't be surprised if someone wants to cover it with a plastic bubble-dome…A further irony– with plans for nearby oil-drilling upsetting artists, eco-activists and community people, preserving the unnatural jetty form as an icon of Earth art has become a wedge against extracting this natural earth product from the ground."
In contrast, contemporary exhibitions, such as the 2021 Fly Ranch event, prioritize the environmental impact of their artworks, aligning with current ecological principles. This particular exhibition featured artistic creations that simultaneously served practical functions, including animal habitats, space-efficient solar energy installations, horticultural planters, and water purification systems. Such integration was achieved through a meticulous design process that considered both the implementation of the artworks and their representation or utilization of sustainable energy sources.
In 1967, art critic Grace Glueck, writing for The New York Times, identified the inaugural Earthwork as a collaboration between Douglas Leichter and Richard Saba at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. The subsequent proliferation of land art in 1968 is attributable to a cohort of artists, predominantly in their late twenties, who responded to the era's intensified political activism and the nascent environmental and women's liberation movements.
A significant 20th-century manifestation of land art was the group exhibition "Earthworks," presented in 1968 at the Dwan Gallery in New York. Subsequently, in February 1969, Willoughby Sharp curated the "Earth Art" exhibition at the Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. This exhibition featured prominent artists such as Walter De Maria, Jan Dibbets, Hans Haacke, Michael Heizer, Neil Jenney, Richard Long, David Medalla, Robert Morris, Dennis Oppenheim, Robert Smithson, and Gunther Uecker, under the direction of Thomas W. Leavitt. Gordon Matta-Clark, then residing in Ithaca, was invited by Sharp to assist the participating artists with the on-site realization of their works for the exhibition.
Robert Smithson stands as arguably the most renowned artist within this genre, whose 1968 essay, "The Sedimentation of the Mind: Earth Projects," established a crucial theoretical framework for the movement. This framework positioned land art as a direct counterpoint to Modernism's perceived detachment from societal concerns, a critique often associated with Clement Greenberg. Smithson's most celebrated work, and arguably the most iconic piece of all land art, is the Spiral Jetty (1970). For this monumental creation, Smithson meticulously arranged rock, earth, and algae to construct a 1,500-foot spiral-shaped jetty extending into the Great Salt Lake in northern Utah, U.S. The artwork's visibility is contingent upon the lake's fluctuating water levels; since its inception, it has been entirely submerged and subsequently re-exposed. The Utah Museum of Fine Arts, in collaboration with the Dia Foundation, acts as a steward for the artwork, consistently organizing educational programs centered around the Spiral Jetty, such as its "Family Backpacks" initiative.
Smithson's Gravel Mirror with Cracks and Dust (1968) exemplifies land art adapted for an indoor gallery setting, diverging from its typical natural environment. This installation comprises a mound of gravel positioned alongside a partially mirrored gallery wall. The work's formal simplicity and its emphasis on raw materials establish a clear affinity with Minimalism. Furthermore, its utilization of substances traditionally deemed "unartistic" or "worthless" demonstrates a conceptual kinship with Arte Povera. Germano Celant, the Italian founder of Arte Povera, was notably among the earliest curators to champion land art.
Land artists have predominantly been American, with notable practitioners in this field including Carl Andre, Alice Aycock, Walter De Maria, Hans Haacke, Michael Heizer, Nancy Holt, Peter Hutchinson, Ana Mendieta, Dennis Oppenheim, Andrew Rogers, Charles Ross, Alan Sonfist, and James Turrell. In 1972, Turrell commenced work on what is arguably the most monumental land art piece to date, involving the reshaping of the terrain surrounding the extinct Roden Crater volcano in Arizona. Prominent non-American land artists include the British Chris Drury, Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Long, and the Australian Andrew Rogers. The Western United States served as an instrumental region for land artists, as its expansive frontiers and deserts were conceived as canvases or experimental sites for their creations.
In 1973, Jacek Tylicki initiated a practice of placing blank canvases or paper sheets in natural environments, allowing nature to facilitate artistic creation. Certain projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, renowned for enveloping monuments, buildings, and landscapes in fabric, have been categorized as land art by some, although the artists themselves disputed this classification. Joseph Beuys's concept of "social sculpture" profoundly influenced land art, and his 1982 *7000 Eichen* project, involving the planting of 7,000 oak trees, bears significant resemblances to land art processes. Rogers' “Rhythms of Life” project represents the largest contemporary land-art endeavor globally, comprising a series of stone sculptures, or geoglyphs, situated across 12 disparate geographical settings worldwide, ranging from below sea level to altitudes of 4,300 meters (14,107 feet). Each site accommodates up to three geoglyphs, with individual sizes reaching up to 40,000 square meters (430,560 square feet).
American land artists were primarily dependent on affluent benefactors and private philanthropic organizations to subsidize their costly projects, or they received commissions from these entities to create artwork; for instance, Walter de Maria’s Lightning Field (1977) was commissioned by The Dia Art Foundation. With the precipitous economic recession of the mid-1970s and land art being inherently unmarketable within the commercial art sector, funding from these sources largely ceased. The demise of Robert Smithson in a 1973 plane crash led to the movement losing one of its most pivotal figures, precipitating a conspicuous decline.
Works of land art were characterized by protracted completion periods, with numerous projects remaining unfinalized. Charles Ross continues his work on the Star Axis project, which he began in 1971. Michael Heizer culminated his work on City in 2022, and James Turrell maintains his ongoing endeavor on the Roden Crater project. In most respects, land art has largely assimilated into mainstream public art discourse, though the term "land art" is occasionally misapplied to designate any form of art situated in nature, even if conceptually divergent from the avant-garde works of the movement's pioneers.
Earth art from the 1960s occasionally exhibited parallels with much older terrestrial constructions, such as Stonehenge, the Pyramids, Native American mounds, the Nazca Lines in Peru, Carnac stones, and Native American burial grounds, frequently evoking the spiritual essence of such archaeological sites.
Contemporary Land Artists
- Lita Albuquerque (born 1946)
- Betty Beaumont (born 1946)
- Milton Becerra (born 1951)
- Marinus Boezem (born 1934)
- Chris Booth (born 1948)
- Eberhard Bosslet (born 1953)
- Alberto Burri (1915-1995)
- Mel Chin (born 1951)
- Christo and Jeanne Claude
- Walter De Maria (1935-2013)
- Lucien den Arend (born 1943)
- Agnes Denes (born 1931)
- Jan Dibbets (born 1941)
- Harvey Fite (1903-1976)
- Barry Flanagan (1941-2009)
- Hamish Fulton (born 1946)
- Andy Goldsworthy (born 1956)
- Michael Heizer (born 1944)
- Stan Herd (born 1950)
- Nancy Holt (1938-2014)
- Peter Hutchinson (born 1930)
- Junichi Kakizaki (born 1971)
- Dani Karavan (1930-2021)
- Maya Lin (born 1959)
- Richard Long (born 1945)
- Robert Morris (1931-2018)
- Vik Muniz (born 1961)
- David Nash (born 1945)
- Ugo Rondinone (born 1964)
- Dennis Oppenheim (1938-2011)
- Georgia Papageorge (born 1941)
- Beverly Pepper (1922-2020)
- Tanya Preminger (born 1944)
- Andrew Rogers (born 1947)
- Charles Ross (born 1937)
- Richard Shilling (born 1973)
- Nobuo Sekine (1942-2019)
- Michael Singer (born 1945)
- Robert Smithson (1938-1973)
- Alan Sonfist (born 1946)
- Tang Da Wu (born 1943)
- James Turrell (born 1943)
- Jacek Tylicki (b. 1951)
- Nils Udo (b. 1937)
- Bill Vazan (b. 1933)
- Hannsjörg Voth
- Strijdom van der Merwe (b. 1961)
Ecofeminist art
- Ecofeminist art
- Ecological art
- Ecovention
- Environmental art
- Environmental sculpture
- Geoglyphs
- Hill figures
- Land Arts of the American West
- Petroglyphs
- Rock art
- Independent public art
- Site-specific art
- Tree shaping
References
"The Case for Land Art" from The Art Assignment, broadcast by PBS.
- The Case for Land Art | The Art Assignment | PBS
- HENI Talks presents What is: Land Art?