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Land Art Explored

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Form, Texture, Geometric Design

I've always loved different textures and shapes of natural objects, so I loved the discovery of artists who take the use of natural materials to an ubelievably divine level!

This is my exploration of some of them...hope you enjoy this with as much delight as I did!

Some of my favorites

South Africa Rocks!

Strijdom van der Merwe

South African Land Artist

WOW! Who would have thought to do this with DEW?!

Nils Udo

Wow!

Andy Goldsworthy

British Artist

...and flowers!

Featured Lens

on Andy Goldsworthy

All the resources you've ever wanted on an exceptional conservationist and land artist.

So exactly what is Land Art?

In the words of the artists...

Strijdom van der Merwe: "As a land artist, he uses the materials provided by the chosen site. His sculptural forms take shape in relation to the landscape. It is a process of working with the natural world - using sand, water, wood and rocks. He shapes these elements into geometrical forms that participate with their environment, continually changing until their final probable destruction. What remains is a photographic image..."

After seeing what he does with rocks on the beach, I'll forever think differently about stretches of sand...

Joern Hansen: "My land art sculptures, projects and installations are primarily created on location, and made with materials found there, or other nature materials (ex: branches, leaves, wood, driftwood, and stones). I emphasize that the sculptures may enrich or give an extra dimension to the site. My intention is that the sculptures and installations are experienced as an addition to the local nature. The inspiration may come from something already found in the location, a material, a root, a form, a wood block, a stone,- something that can be drawn into the foreground or emphasized. Perhaps expressing a feeling, an idea, or a mood that arises from, and suits the history or spirit of the location."

Wikipedia on Land Art

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.

The best known piece, and probably the most famous piece of all land art, is Spiral Jetty (1970), for which the American Robert Smithson arranged rock, earth and algae so as to form a long (1500 ft) spiral-shape jetty protruding into Great Salt Lake in Utah. How much of the work, if any, is visible is dependent on the fluctuating water levels. Since its creation, the work has been completely covered, and then uncovered again, by water.

“I personally prefer the smaller, more intimate versions of land art.”

Some more examples

There's a lot out there, so this will be an ongoing task!
Watch this space!

Joern Hansen

European

All that remains is the photographic image...

Strijdom loves working in or near water

Goldsworthy - about the photograph

"My approach to the photograph is kept simple, almost routine. All work, good and bad is documented. I use standard film, lenses and no filters. Taking the photograph is not a casual act. It is very demanding and a balance is kept in which documentation does not interrupt the making. Each work grows, stays, decays - integral parts of a cycle which the photograph shows at its height, marking the moment when the work is most alive. There is an intensity about a work at its peak that I hope is expressed in the image. Process and decay are implicit in that moment. A drawing or painting would be too defined. The photographs leave the reason and spirit of the work outside. They are not the purpose but the result of my art. As Yves Klein said of his monochrome paintings: 'They are the left-overs from the creative process, the ashes. My pictures, after all, are only the title deeds to my property which I have to produce when I am asked o prove that I am a proprietor.'
That art should be permanent or impermanent is not the issue. Transience in my work reflects what I find in nature and should not be confused with an attitude towards art generally. I have never been against the well made or long lasting.
The photograph does not need to shrivel and fall to the ground for change to be part of purpose. It is an outdoor experience expressed in an indoor place which uses the conventions of that place to keep its meaning clear. It is appropriate to that space as it would be inappropriate to hang a framed photograph from a tree in a wood.
If the photograph represents the work alive, then work brought indoors becomes its husk. Much of the energy is lost: stones become isolated and leaves dry out ...yet there is still enough meaning left. Not only does such work explore the relationship between indoor and outdoor alongside the image, it emphasises the physicalness of what I do."

Nils Udo

Sculptural Art

Inspiration for next trip to the beach

Classic use of sticks!

Display of patience, perfection & ability

Richard Shilling

More colourful samples

by Nils Udo

...using seeds, berries and leaves

But there's just something about sticks & water

Leaves & Light

Unknown Land Artist...let me know if this belongs to you!!!

And then there's Sand...

Circles in the Sand

Ooooh, so you want to explore yourself?!

Well, why didn't you say so?

Some places to start

Warning...

This might get addictive!
You might even want to start making your own land art! I know I want to!
I might even start a blog to publish the photos! Who knows!

Land Art Explored

Form, Texture, Geometric Design

Some of my favorites

Strijdom van der Merwe

South African Land Artist

Nils Udo

Wow!

Andy Goldsworthy

British Artist

Featured Lens

on Andy Goldsworthy

So exactly what is Land Art?

In the words of the artists...

Wikipedia on Land Art

“I personally prefer the smaller, more intimate versions of land art.”

Some more examples

Joern Hansen

European

All that remains is the photographic image...

Nils Udo

Display of patience, perfection & ability

Richard Shilling

More colourful samples

by Nils Udo

But there's just something about sticks & water

Ooooh, so you want to explore yourself?!

Some places to start

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