eco-artaka...

land artenvironmental art

earth artgreen art

Caspar David Friedrich, Moonrise over the Sea, 1822, oil on canvas

Friedrich, a German, gets the credit as the first great artist of the Romantic landscape. In his views there is still a central (very central) place for man in nature

Thomas Cole (American, 1801 - 1848)Romantic Landscape, 1826Oil on canvas

For Thomas Cole, landscape was more than scenery. The artist hoped to stir the viewer to contemplate the natural purity and boundless promise of the New World. Both his art and his spiritual zeal inspired several generations of American landscape painters known collectively as the Hudson River School.

Frederic Church, Niagara Fallsoil on canvas

Niagara Falls from Table Rock, 1835Samuel FB Morse, 1791–1872

Samuel Morse was a co-founder of the the National Academy of Design, and contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph

system and co-inventor of the Morse code

Frederick Church, Twilight in the Wilderness, 1860

Albert BierstadtBridal Veil Falls, Yosemite, 1871–73Oil on canvas

Bierstadt was one of the first pioneering artists to go west in search of new scenes to paint. The mountains were far more lofty and dramatic than any in the eastern United States.

Albert BierstadtWind River Wyoming, ca. 1870

oil on canvas

Martin Johnson Heade - Marsh River In Haze

Martin Johnson Heade - Sunny Day On The Marsh 1875

Martin Johnson Heade - Orchid And Two Hummingbirds 1872

Heade (pronounced ‘heed’) traveled extensively in S. America, painting mostly flowers and birds in an attempt

to make a living from selling the exotic scenes.

George Caleb Bingham, Boatmen on the Missouri, 1846

George Caleb Bingham, Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, 1845

Thomas Hart Benton, Chillmark, 1916

As the west was settled the settlers no less than the landscape were celebrated.

Arthur ChartowFord Rouge Plant, 2009

Charles Sheeler (1883–1965), American Landscape, 1930(The Ford River Rouge plant)

Once settled, the new industrial landscape, and the American ingenuity, industry and energy it represented, became the object of celebration. It remains so for some today.

celebrations of the landscape

The landscape is celebrated no less today than during the time of the Hudson River school, though often the means and materials are

different, and the work extends into the landscape itself. The goals have been expanded to include bringing attention to, and making

warnings about, the fragility of the natural world.

Christo and Jean-ClaudeWrapped Coast, Project for

Australia, Near Sydney 1968-69

Nothing of Christo and Jean-Claude's work remains once the installation has been dismantled. Christo once said, "I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain."

Christo and Jean-ClaudeValley Curtain, Rifle, Colorado,

1970-72

Christo and Jean-ClaudeRunning Fence, Sonoma and

Marin Counties, California 1972-76

Christo and Jean-ClaudeSurrounded Islands

Miami, Florida, 1980-83,.Christo and Jean-Claude's crew removed 40 tons of garbage from the area during the project

Richard LongA Line Made by Walking, 1967

Richard LongA Line in Scotland, 1981

“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. First I started making work outside using natural materials like grass and water, and this led to the idea of making a sculpture by walking.”

Hamish Fulton3 self-explanatory pieces

Joseph Beuys7000 Oaks

Germanytrees, basalt stone columns

Dia installed five stone columns, each paired with a tree, at West 22nd Street in 1988, continuing the sculpture project 7000 Eichen (7000 Oaks) by German artist Joseph Beuys. Five varieties of trees were planted: gingko, linden, bradford pear, sycamore, and oak. In 1996 Dia extended this project by planting 18 new trees.

Joseph Beuys7000 OaksDia Foundation, NY, NYtrees, basalt stone columns

Andy GoldsworthyStorm King Wall, 1997-98

2,278-foot-long site-specific sculpture was made using stones gathered from the Art Center property

environmental planning & rehabilitation

Alan SonfistTime Landscape, 1965

“visible to this day at the corner of Houston and LaGuardia in

Greenwich Village, it introduced the key environmentalist idea of

bringing nature back into the urban environment”

Time Landscape is a plot of ‘wild’ land planted with flora

native to Manhattan.

Alan SonfistCircles of Time, date?

“concentric rings of different plant species mark the evolution of indigenous plant life from the modern day through ancient forests, spanning both ecological and chronological gaps providing a wholistic view of Tuscan natural history”

pioneers of the eco-art movement, the Harrisons have worked for almost forty years with biologists, ecologists, architects, urban planners and other artists to initiate collaborative dialogues to uncover ideas and solutions which support biodiversity and community development.

Helen and Newton HarrisonMaking Earth, 1970

“topsoil was endangered world-wide, we made earth many times”

‘Newt’ tasting the new earth

Helen and Newton HarrisonMeditations on the Sacramento River, the Delta and the Bays at San Francisco- 1976-77

“the first critique of the green revolution* and intensive irrigated farming in art,”

* the green revolution took root in the 1960’s. It balanced fertilization with proper seeds and irrigation to double or even triple crop production per acre. It caused waterways to be polluted by chemical run-off which, in part, this project critiques. It also fed an awful lot of hungry people.

Helen and Newton HarrisonThe Mangrove and The Pine, 1982

“pines, invaders in this region, pushing out the native mangroves”

Helen and Newton HarrisonEndangered Meadows, 1994

“the Harrisons transplanted a 400 year-old meadow that was being replaced by an urban development of roofgarden on top of the museum”

shades of Joni Mitchell’s ‘tree museum’

Agnes DenesWheatfield, 1982

2 acres of wheat planted and harvested by the artist on a landfill in Manhattan's financial district. The wheat was used to make bread.

Agnes DenesTree Mountain: A Living Time Capsule, 1992-96

Patricia JohansonSaggitaria Platyphylla, 1981-86Fair Park Lagoon, Dallas, TX

a home for native wildlife—ducks, turtles, fish, shrimp, insects

Patricia JohansonEllis Creek Water Recycling Facility

Petaluma, CA

The project includes oxidation ponds, sewage treatment wetlands, and polishing ponds for the removal of heavy metals, as

well as a new 272-acre tidal marsh and mudflat, Petaluma Wetlands Park.

“Patricia Johanson has patiently insisted that art can help to heal the earth. For the last ten years she has been creating large-scale projects that posit a radical, yet practical vision. She works with engineers, city planners, scientists and citizens' groups to create her art as functioning infrastructure for modern cities.”

Meadowsweet Dairy (sculptors collaborative): "We share a deep commitment to the notion that

art has a job to do. Much of our work aspires to be both aesthetically powerful and practical. We clean up neglected, trash filled areas and make their beauty accessible through our site-pieces."

Meadowsweet DairyFor The Birds, 2000artificial bird nesting boxes, SE Farallon Island, CANine Cassin's Auklets fledged from the nesting boxes in the first year.

Meadowsweet DairyTwo Bridges, 1997Cedarhurst Sculpture Park, Mt. Vernon, IL

For similar projects—artists designing landscape—see also George Trakas and Michael Singer

something is wrong...warnings of dystopia

Some artists celebrate. Others warn.

Gregory Crewdson Untitled (Robin with Ring of Eggs), 1993

Crewdson’s photographic scenes instill an unsettled feeling of something out of joint, amiss. The people in the scenes feel it too, but seem powerless to do anything.

Gregory Crewdson Untitled (shed fire), 1996

Gregory CrewdsonUntitled (flower totem), 2002

if the people in the scenes do something, it seems misdirected, bizarre, ineffectual

Gregory CrewdsonUntitled, 2001

Gregory CrewdsonUntitled, Winter 2007

Gregory CrewdsonUntitled, Summer 2007

winter is grim.is summer any better?

Edward BurtynskyBurning Tire Pile # 1

Near Stockton, California 1999

Burtynsky, a Canadian photographer, works in the much more direct documentary vein, producing environmental records both horrifying and oddly beautiful

Edward BurtynskyNickel Tailings No. 36

Sudbury, Ontario 1996

Edward BurtynskyKennecott Copper Mine No. 22Bingham Valley, Utah 1983

Edward BurtynskyDam #2, Three Gorges Dam Project, Yangtze River, 2002 “The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest and most powerful

hydroelectric dam. Located on the Yangtze River, and straddling Hubei and Sichuan provinces, the dam stretches two kilometers across (five times wider than America’s Hoover Dam) and stands 185 meters high.”

The film “ Manufactured Landscapes“ is about Burtynsky and is also an examination of industrialization and globalization

Walton FordFalling Bough, 2002

watercolor, gouche, ink, pencil

Walton FordThe Island, date unknown

Walton FordThe Island, date unknown

More unsettling views of nature possibly run amok. The Mendocino College library has a new and beautiful book of Ford’s paintings.

Vaughn BellPersonal Landscapes: Desert, Crag, Lawn, 2005-06stoneware, hardware, wheels, leashes, acrylic, soil, plants

Vaughn BellVillage Green, 2008

five biospheres: acrylic forms, native plants of the Berkshires, soil, water, hardware

Vaughn Bell's work suggests a science fiction universe in which plants serve as pets and companions, and once again evokes Joni Mitchell’s ‘tree museum’

Vaughn BellDust Mask, 2009-10

photo from a performance

Levi van Veluw, Landscape I, 2008: Lambdaprint

“The images that I make often consist of unlogical combinations of materials, patterns, colors, and forms, with my head as the only constant factor. Each element is conspicuously chosen to affect a predetermined transformation. By playing with the value of each material and by using them for a purpose that was not originally intended for them, I construct within the image, in a very small way, a different perspective on the world.” Levi van Veluw

Levi van Veluw, Landscape III, 2008: Lambdaprint

Shen ShaominUnknown Creature No. 10, date?6’ high; animal and human bones

Shen Shaomin, Sagittarius, 2005: Bone, bone meal, glue

“People are fabricating an artificial world according to personal interests. The biological world is no exception; the most mysterious place of the future world will be the “biological factory.” In this place, people will use their adept skills and methods to produce DNA and nurture new biological species, and these creatures would either be manufactured or implanted.” Shen Shaomin

Misako Inaokochess set of invented creatures

Gregory EuclideTorn from the making of knowing's vista, 2010

Acrylic, foam, lead, moss, paper, pencil, sedum, sponge, wax in acrylic box frame

“For Euclide nature, contemplation and curiosity are concomitant. Today he walks in Minnesota near the Twin Cities, observing and collecting found objects, interesting plant material, all of which are incorporated into his art.”

Gregory Euclidetitle and date unknown

Jeanne SilverthorneVenus Flytrap with Xeres Blue (Extinct), 2009

rubber and phosphorescent pigment

Jeanne SilverthornePhosphorescent Pink with Flies, 2009 rubber and phosphorescent pigment

biological interventions

why limit yourself to ‘art’ materials?

“Transgenic art is a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering to transfer natural or synthetic genes to an organism, to create unique living beings. This must be done with great care, with acknowledgment of the complex issues thus raised and, above all, with a commitment to respect, nurture, and love the life thus created.” Eduardo Kac

Eduardo Kac and Alba, the fluorescent bunny. This transgenic artwork comprises the creation of a green fluorescent rabbit. 2000

BallengeePacific Tree Frog

BallengeeRed-spotted Newt

Ballengee collects specimens of naturally occurring genetic mutations (ie, not artificially induced) in small creatures, mostly amphibians, prepares them for scientific display the exhibits results.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/injecting_poetry_into_bacteria_to_produce_more_poe.php

Canadian Poet Christian Bök has translated his purpose-written short poem into DNA and is injecting it into a bacterium, Deinococcus radiodurans.

The way DNA codes to text is that scientists have established a sort of "language of flowers" in which a given amino acid stands in for a given letter. What Bök means by a "response" is that the bacterium, in response to the injected DNA, creates proteins whose amino acids spell out a new set of words, a new poem.

moss graffiti

artists unknownradical moss graffiti

el&abe (eleanor stevens and anna garforth)church moss graffiti, england

masanobu fukuoka—not (officially) an artist, but a Japanese natural-philosopher-farmer, educator writer, naturalist, researcher and professional biological scientist. he also gets credit for invention of ‘the seed bomb’. seed balls (or seed bombs, earth dumplings) are often used by guerilla gardeners in reclaiming derelict land in their neighborhoods.

seed balling in brooklyn, ny

seed ball grown field

planting seed balls,and the results

post apocalypse

after the end...

"post-apocalyptic urban landscapes that blur the visual boundaries of fiction and reality. Lukas’ work explores the existence of disaster, be it realized or fictitious, in contemporary society. “

Alex LukasNYC 2, 2009 ink, acrylic, gouache and silkscreen on two book pages

Alex LukasUntitled, 2009

acrylic and silkscreen on book

page

Alex LukasUntitled, 2009

acrylic and silkscreen on two

book pages

Mat CollinshawChildren of a Lesser God, ndphoto on lightbox

an evocation of a raw nature where children are raised by wolves (if they are lucky)

“the viewer enters the Earth after a major event. Whether it has been an explosion, that has covered the forests under a thin layer of ashes, or a complete freeze of nature due to cold and frost, is not defined.”

Gerhard Mantz generates his virtual landscapes with the computer by means of a 3D modelling process.

Gerhard MantzAllgemeine Ubereinstimmung, 2009ink on canvas

Gerhard MantzBemerkenswerter

Zusammenhang, 2009ink on canvas

Yang YongliangUntitled # 5 from the Heavenly City series, 2008Inkjet print

renewable resource art

being good...

John GradeElephant Bed (Brighton), 2009Corn-based polymer, biodegradable methyl cellulose skins20 forms, 24' x 6' x 6' each

Those pieces which have not slowly disappeared into a large pool of ink during the course of the exhibit will be walked into Bellingham Bay, where they will be left to dissolve in its waters

Bean FinneranWhite Ring , 2007

Low fire clay, glaze, acrylic stain 24" x 60"

"I couldn't come up with any kind of personal statement as a painter, so after awhile I decided to start working with clay again. I had never formally studied ceramics

but thought I would just bumble my way through."

Junichi Nakamura, et. al.Mysterious Pearl, 2006Fairbanks, AK

Snow and ice sculpture events are staged all over the world. . See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_sculpture for a list.

Sculpting a block of snowJacques Cartier ParkGatineau, CA 2005

Teams of professional carvers compete in the annual International Ice Carving Competition. This year’s theme is

“Winter Olympics” and each team is given 15 blocks of ice, weighing 300 lb, which they must transform into ice sculptures.

snow dinosaurs

Joan Bankemper Willa

A contemporary “earthwork” which will function as a medicinal herb garden.

Ann Rosenthal and Steffi Domike An American Roots Garden

Foods common to early America, including Native American crops and those brought by settlers and immigrants.

Knox CumminNot Drain Away

A rain water collection sculpture off of the roof of an existing farmhouse complete with rain barrels, piping and irrigation system, which waters the American Roots garden.

Edible Landscapes: “green” principles and sustainability in relationship to food, art, design and agriculture. Socially engaging interventions in the landscape related to food and agriculture,

George HermsMax and Dorothea, 2002

Ed KienholzJohn Doe, 1959

Richard StankiewiczSpeckle Bird Shy, 1958

Junk art, by definition, is recycled and green.

random eco-art

Valeri LarkoSalvaged, 2006(?)oil on canvas

The distinctive landscape of northern New Jersey.Junk art - even tho’ it’s a painting

William B. MontgomeryUntitled (detritus of consumption), 1988etching, 12x18”

Jan Fabre, Skull, 2001: Mixture of scarab wing cases, plastic, stuffed animal.

“My sculptures from 2001 represent human skulls that seem to have been invaded by scarabs. I was attracted to the beetle’s shimmering colors which bestow a distinctive beauty to the skulls making them reminiscent of Aztec skulls set with precious stones. The fact that scarabs are symbols of eternity in the Egyptian mythology adds another layer of meaning, transforming the skull into an object of veneration.” Jan Fabre

Fabián Peña, The Impossibility of Storage for the Soul I (Self-Portrait), 2007Cockroach wing fragments, translucent paper, light boxes.

“Most of my recent pieces are made with insect parts in a process where I transform these repulsive creatures into other anatomies. I re-contextualize these organic elements into significant objects that address existential matters.” Fabián Peña

Michael RyanDead Space, 2005Plastic bags, fishing line, clear vinyl tubing, plexiglas, electronic timers, air pumps and credit card

Vanessa MarshIncomplete Freeway On-Ramp, Seattle, WA, 2009 Mixed media, found materials, oil and galkyd

Vanessa MarshCement Factory, Seattle, WA, 2009,

Mixed media, found materials, oil and galkyd

Billie Grace Lynn, Mad Cow Motorcycle, 2008: Cow bones, bicycle frame, electric motor.

“My work is usually interactive and kinetic in nature. I strive to make pieces in which the viewer’s experience is important to the form and function of the piece. I want people to remember themselves, in much the same way that babies discover their fingers.” Billie Grace Lynn

Christy Rupp, Great Auk, Iceland, 2007: Fast-food chicken bones, mixed media.

“Are chickens from the supermarket less important than a bird gone forever except in a museum? Although observed from actual bird prototypes, these sculptures embody absurdity, as they are a creation of human hands. Reflecting the preposterous notion that humans can put things back together, they imply that merely by good intentions, nature could be retrofitted for the better, placating our guilt.” Christy Rupp

Christy RuppZero Balance - Frog made from Credit Cards, 2007 10" X 10" X 3".

Carson MurdachThe Course of Empire#3 Consummation 

Carson MurdachThe Course of Empire #2 Prosperity 

Carson MurdachThe Course of Empire #1 Discovery 

Jim ToiaCloak of Piety, 2008

pewter ant colony cast 

Jim Toiamushroom spore drawing, 2008

Untitled, 2008dimensions variable

multiple pewter ant colony casts

Claudia Borgna

In these performance pieces I walk and crawl through different landscapes wearing outfits made out of hundreds of plastic bags.

MajeedCool Globe, 2009

A layer of cell phones, soda cans, and plastic bottles encrust the outer layer of this cool globe

Chris BurdenMedusa's Head, 1989-92

A volcanic mass of rocky landscape wrapped with and penetrated by model trains and tracks of various sizes

Keith W. Bentley, Cauda Equina, 1995-2007Approx. 1.4 million hand-knotted horse hairs, fabric, taxidermy mannequin, resin

“Funeral etiquette from the latter half of the Victorian era dictated that widows wear black veils for a mourning period of eighteen months. I have adapted this tradition for Cauda Equina, which translates as ‘horse tail’ but is also the name given to the lower part of he spinal column in most vertebrates.” Keith W. Bentley

Marc Swanson, Untitled (Antler Pile), 2010: Antlers, crystals, adhesive

“I like to synthesize materials that resist being synthesized. By drawing attention to the duality of the materials, I intend to transform them into something altogether different and new. I think of it as a kind of alchemy.” Marc Swanson

Tracy Heneberger, Moon, 2006: Anchovies, epoxy, shellac, resin

“My sculpture is accumulative in nature, each large gesture an embroidery of many smaller ones. I just don’t trust mass that has been achieved without the building aspect. Increments are the forms I understand, and repeating and expanding them to create systems and structures are acts of ritual, transformation, and faith.” Tracy Heneberger

Laura Splan, Reflexive #1, 2004blood on watercolor paper40"H x 40"W

“Reflexive explores the narrative implications of blood through its physical qualities. Each drawing was created using blood taken from my fingertips as the primary medium. The drawings reference neuroanatomical forms sometimes directly, sometimes loosely.” Laura Splan

Jennifer Angus, red_swarm, 2009

Jennifer Angus became an amateur entomologist in the course of creating her series of dollhouses and installations. She builds scenes of perfect domestic felicity, but all the patterns on the walls, floors and furniture are arrangements of beautiful insects, and all the characters in the dollhouses are insects, too

Helen Altman used a plastic model of a human skull to mold spices, seeds, grasses, beans, lotus leaves and the like into firm, skull-shaped packages, which she then arranges on a wall. She wants viewers to approach and stick their noses into the skulls, breathe deeply of the clove, the rose, the balsa, and let death get in their face.

Helen Altman, skulls1Helen Altman, skulls2

Claire MorganOnTop of the World, 2009

Bluebottle flies, spider, nylon, lead, acrylic70 7/8 x 19 11/16 x 19 11/16 in.

Stuart HaygarthTide, 2004

The original Tide chandelier is part of a larger body of work based on the collection of 'man made' debris washed up on a specific stretch of Kent (England) coastline.

Paula HayesNocturne of the Limax maximusMoMA, 2011

Tim HawkinsonPoint, 2009 eggs shells10 1/2 x 4 1/4 x 1 in

The Great Pacific Gyre

The central Pacific Ocean hosts a collection of mostly plastic garbage covering an area twice the size of Texas. It is many feet deep.

Books:

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, Mariner Books, 2002. Released in 1962, Silent Spring offered the first look at widespread ecological degradation and touched off an environmental awareness that still exists.

John Grande, Art Nature Dialogues: Interviews with Environmental Artists, SUNY Press, 2004

Adrian Henri, Total Art: Environments, Happenings and Performance, Praeger, 1974

Websites:

What the Heck is Eco-Art? (planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/eco-art-ways-explore.html)

Environmental Museum (www.greenmuseum.org/)

Green Arts Web (www.greenarts.org/) Includes art history, journals, books, theory, video and links to art and artists.

Christina Ray, (www.christinaray.com/). “... an innovative gallery and creative catalyst. Our mission, grounded by the concept of psychogeography, is to present the most important contemporary artwork exploring the relationship between people and places.”

Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI) (www.clui.org) “Dedicated to the increase and diffusion of knowledge about how the nation's lands are apportioned, utilized, and perceived.”

eco art space (www.ecoartspace.org) “Creating opportunities for addressing environmental issues through the visual arts.”

BOOMMUSEUM, www.boommuseum.nl/intro-e.html, a virtual museum for art in all facets of nature. Founded in 1995, till the present day it has built up a collection of more than 160 works of art.

Other:

Nevada Museum of Art (www.nevadaart.org) The 1st museum dedicated to art with “a focus on natural, built and virtual environments.” It also runs the Center of Art + Environment (CA+E)

Wendover Residency Program run by CLUI (www.clui.org/pro_pro/wendover/index.html) “The program is open to artists, ... or anyone who works with land and land use issues in an innovative and engaging manner.”