Earth art, also known as land art, earthworks, or environmental art, involves creating artworks directly in nature using natural materials like stones, leaves, mud, and twigs. The document discusses several earth artists like Andy Goldsworthy, Robert Smithson, and Richard Long. It provides examples of their artworks, which are typically large-scale sculptures or installations created outdoors using materials found in the natural environment. The emergence of earth art in the 1960s-70s was influenced by a reaction against commercialism and a desire to create art outside the gallery setting and integrate it with the natural world.
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What is Earth Art?
Also known as…
Land Art
Earthworks
Environmental Art
Create art using natural resources/mediums
Altering the form of natural environments
Grow/evolve, stay, change
Stones, leaves, mud, twigs, etc.
Mid 1960s and 70s
Large
Sculptures
Photographed
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What Influenced Earth Art?
Reaction to commercialism
Artificial
Outside of Gallery
‖A work of art when placed in a gallery loses its
charge, and becomes a portable object or
surface disengaged from the outside world.‖ –
Robert Smithson
Post war industrialization
The Silent Spring by Rachel Carson – 1962
Minimalism
Simple forms
Emotion
Visuals
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Andy Goldsworthy
July 26, 1956 – British
Bradford College 1974 – 75
Preston Polytechnic 1975 – 78
―I can‘t edit the materials I work with.
My remit is to work with nature as a
whole. I find nature as a whole
disturbing. Nature can be harsh –
difficult and brutal, as well as beautiful. You couldn‘t walk
five minutes from here without coming across something
that is dead or decaying.‖ —Andy Goldsworthy
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Artwork
“intimate and enclosed”
Contrast – stones
He uses leaves of intense color
Fades from green to yellow
Dark to light
The colors emphasizes the 3
dimensional form
Smooth texture
Goldsworthy, Andy. Leaves Laid on a River
Boulder. 1999. Leaves and water.
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Robert Smithson
January 2, 1938 – July 20, 1973
Passaic, New Jersey
Airplane
Art Students League of New York
Earthworks
"I am for an art that takes into
account the direct effect of the elements as they exist
from day to day apart from representation.‖
Entropy
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Spiral Jetty
Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970 (Great
Salt Lake, Utah)
Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Shana
Gallagher-Lindsay
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Richard Long
June 2, 1945
Bristol
West of England College of Art – 1962 – 1965
St. Marin‘s School of Art – 1968
"Nature has always been a subject
of art, from the first cave paintings to
twentieth-century landscape
photography. I wanted to use
the landscape as an artist in new
ways..."
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Comparing Earth Art
Materials
Colors
Commercialism
Purpose/functions
Simplicity
vs.
Detail
Lascaux, about 15,000 – 13,000 BC. Dordogne, Fance
Goldsworthy, Andy. Clay Wall.
1999. Clay. Musée Départmental
De Digne, Digne-Les-Baines,
Haute Province, France.
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Works Cited
"Earth·work." The Free Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
"Earth Art." The Free Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
"Andy Goldsworthy – Naturalist Artist." Will To Know RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
"Monumental Land Art." Of the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
Andy Goldsworthy. Digital image. National Gallery of Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
"Learn about Movements & Styles and Other Art Land Art - Art We Love." Learn about Movements & Styles and Other Art Land Art - Art We Love.
N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
Illustration by Andy Warhol on Tearsheet for Success Is a Job in New York from What Is Success, Glamour Magazine, September 1949. Digital
image. Warhol.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
David, Michael,, David,, and Caroline. "The Rise of the US Environmental Movement."ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
Griswold, Eliza. "How ‗Silent Spring‘ Ignited the Environmental Movement." The New York Times. N.p., 21 Sept. 2012. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
"Earth Art Tags: Earth_art, Earthworks, Land_art, Libguides ." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
"The Earth Art Movement." Eco Brooklyn Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
Willette, Jeanne S.M., Dr. "Earth Art." Art History Unstuffed RSS. N.p., 18 May 2012. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
Lane, Jim. "Minimalism." Http://www.humanitiesweb.org/. N.p., 14 Oct. 1999. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
"Movements in Twentieth-Century Art After World War II." Movements in Twentieth-Century Art After World War II. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
"Art & Ecology:." Transition to Ecological Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
"ANDY GOLDSWORTHY." Andy Goldsworthy. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
"Andy_Goldsworthy." Reference.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
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Works Cited (continued)
"Minimalism." Reference.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
"Land Art." Reference.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
Robert Smithson. Digital image. Http://impossiblecloud.blogspot.com/. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.
"Earthworks_(art)." Reference.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
"Robert Smithson." Reference.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
Siegal, Joshua. Earthworks Art. N.p.: n.p., Fall 2004. PDF.
"ArtLex Art Dictionary." ArtLex Art Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
"Guggenheim." Richard Long. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
"Richard Long." Reference.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
"The Art Story.org - Your Guide to Modern Art." Robert Smithson Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
"Robert Smithson Earthworks." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
Goldsworthy, Andy. Time. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000. Print.
Goldsworthy, Andy. River of Earth. Digital image. Http://lauracricket.tumblr.com/. N.p., 10 June 2012. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.
Long, Richard. The Art of Richard Long. Digital image.Http://12monthscreativity.wordpress.com. N.p., 17 May 2011. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.
Long, Richard. The Art of Richard Long. Digital image. Http://laetal.blogspot.com/. N.p., 2012. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.
Smithson, Robert. Emmen Smithson Broken Circle. Digital image. Wikipedia.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.
Goldsworthy, Andy. Boulder Covered with Flower Petals and Leaves. Digital image.Steeplemedia.com. N.p., 7 July 2007. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.
Richard Long. Digital image. The Guardian. N.p., 15 June 2012. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.