Land art, Earthworks (coined by Robert Smithson), or Earth art is an art movement in which landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked. It is also an art form that is created in nature, using natural materials such as soil, rock (bed rock, boulders, stones), organic media (logs, branches, leaves), and water with introduced materials such as concrete, metal, asphalt, or mineral pigments. Sculptures are not placed in the landscape, rather, the landscape is the means of their creation. Often earth moving equipment is involved. 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. They also pioneered a category of art called site-specific sculpture, designed for a particular outdoor location.
Read more about Land Art: History, Contemporary Land Artists
Famous quotes containing the words land and/or art:
“I’m right here to tell you, mister. There ain’t nobody gonna push me off my land. My grandpa took up this land seventy years ago. My pa was born here. We was all born on it. And some of us was killed on it. And some of us died on it. That’s what makes it ourn. Bein’ born on it. And workin’ on it. And dyin’ on it. And not no piece of paper with writin’ on it.”
—Nunnally Johnson (1897–1977)
“O grim-looked night, O night with hue so black,
O night which ever art when day is not!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)