Land art, 20th century, Earth art, environmental art, Earth work, Smithson's non-site work, sculpture, landscape, non-site work, natural world, public art gallery, earthwork, artwork, on-site work, monuments, manmade materials, organic materials, postminimalism, minimalism artists, minimalist artwork, minimalist sculptures, post-minimalist approach, entropy, Dia Art Foundation, transformation, art gallery, Robert Smithson
The term land art refers to an art movement that was popularized in the 1960s and 1970s. It was popularly associated with Great Britain and the United States, but it included examples from other countries. Land art, also referred to Earth art, environmental art, or Earth work, broadens the boundaries of art by the materials used and the siting of the work. Mostly, the materials used are natural, for example, rocks, soil, vegetation, and the water on site. Sculptures are not placed in the landscapes. Instead, the landscape is the creation. The siting is done away from population centers. The sites are then documented in photos that are usually brought back to the public art gallery. Some of the oldest earthworks were in the deserts of Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. They now exist only as video recordings and photographic documentation. The main aim of land art was to raise awareness of the relationship between man and the natural world through intervening in the landscape in a series of intriguing constructions.
[...] Besides his site land artwork of the spiral jetty, Smithson also portrayed his work in a non-site setting. He believed that non-site work should be directly related to a site. His on-site work was presented in crib-like minimalist containers with galvanized steel containing rocks, gravel, and salt collected from distant mines, quarries, and excavations. The non-sites had maps that directed the viewer to the original site, therefore, creating a dialectic between the site and on-site. The maps created a relation between the site and the non-site that foregrounded the concept of performance. [...]
[...] Mostly, the materials used are natural, for example, rocks, soil, vegetation, and the water on site. Sculptures are not placed in the landscapes. Instead, the landscape is the creation. The siting is done away from population centers. The sites are then documented in photos that are usually brought back to the public art gallery. Some of the oldest earthworks were in the deserts of Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. They now exist only as video recordings and photographic documentation. [...]
[...] He emphasized the connection between non-site work and the actual site. References Clark Lunberry, "Quiet Catastrophe: Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, Vanished," Discourse24, no (2003) Colman, Felicity. "Affective entropy: Art as differential form." Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities 11, no (2006): 169-178. Cooke, Lynne, and Karen Kelly, eds. Robert Smithson: Spiral jetty: real fictions, false realities. London: University of California Press Holt, Nancy, Philip Leider, and Sol LeWitt. The writings of Robert Smithson: essays with illustrations. New York University Press Moira Roth, "Interview with Robert Smithson in Robert Smithson, ed. [...]
[...] Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty was based on the theme of entropy. Smithson's definition of entropy is the operations of nature that lead to the state of transformation. He was interested in the subject of entropy, and he believed that it contradicts the view of the world as a mechanical place. His interest in geology and mineralogy confirmed the law of thermodynamics to him. The law states that any given system will experience eventual exhaustion and collapse. Geology and mineralogy are connected to entropy in that, as the stones rubble, the earth slows and cools. [...]
[...] Creating the jetty in the ruined section of the sea and using only natural materials that were native in this area helped Smithson bring attention to the environmental blight. The use of rocks was so that the art would not erode entirely. Instead, the stones would maintain their shape, but due to the effects of climate change, in the summer, they evaporate, and the whole artwork becomes salt. Entropy Land artists based their artwork on prehistoric and ancient monuments, for example, Stonehenge and the burial mounds of native America that were monumental in scale and size. [...]
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