The world has a lot of environmental challenges. Pollution, waste, overconsumption, climate change are just some of the problems affecting our planet and urging people to rethink their lifestyle and artists to rethink their art. As a result, more and more artists are creating environmental art that raises awareness and offers answers to some of the environmental issues we are facing today. However, despite the recent surge of environmental artworks, it’s fair to say that environmental art has a long tradition that can be traced back to the 1960s and the rise of Land art.
Land Art
Land art, also known as earth art, refers to a movement of artists who made pieces directly in the landscape, by using a variety of natural materials they could find on site. Land artists wanted to take art outside of galleries and into nature. Artists would use the natural environment as their canvas for creating large, site-specific art pieces. American artist, Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty featuring a large spiral made in the middle of a desert is considered a pivotal art piece in that respect. Land art rejected traditional sculptural forms and instead made sculptures from natural material…
