Earth Art - what is it? If we hammer a definition for earth art, what of eco-art, land art, environmental art, or earth works?
Let's try this for a working Earth Art definition: a movement in art where the Earth itself serves not only as the channel for the display of work, but also as the medium for the work itself.
How well does this definition hold? Can we think of anything that would fit this, but not be Earth Art?
One might object: Plenty of natural objects from the Earth serve as mediums for art, yet we don't call them Earth Art! For instance, what of a wooden craftsman who is at an art convention held in the woods? There, the Earth is serving as a channel for the display of work, and we are using Earth-elements, namely wood, as the medium. Would we want to grant this as an example of Earth Art?
Good point - it seems that in this case, the spirit of the work is not Earth Art although it may fit our definition. So let's revise our definition:
New Earth Art Definition: a movement in art where the natural state of the Earth is intended to serve as the means for displaying the work, and unaltered natural products of the Earth are used as a medium for the work itself.
I think I can settle on the new earth art definition... for now.
Village Green by Vaughn Bell, 2008
14 years ago
2 comments:
Great! Let's talk more about this in class ... but consider this - if the setting is part of the visual experience, then is the setting also part of the piece? How much does the setting - ie the earth - interact w/ the piece?
Brad, it seems that setting is also part of the piece. For instance, if everything physical about the spiral jetty - the rocks, sand, moss, etc could be lifted and placed in the middle of the Sahara, the meaning behind the piece could be interpreted completely differently - perhaps it is some new rock-circle (instead of crop circle). Now, if the piece carried the same weight despite where it was placed, that is, the artist was completely indifferent, then it seems that setting would not be critical to the piece. As we have seen in the spiral jetty example, this is simply not the case. Therefore, it seems that the proper setting is a sufficent condition for the desired meaning of the piece (although not a necessary one for the piece to exist).
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