Earthworks or Environmental art developed in the 1960s as a reaction to the Environmental movement, the publication of marine biologist Rachel Carson with her book Silent Spring (1962), and the creation of the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969. Artists like Robert Smithson, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Nancy Holt created these large, temporary, and inaccessible works.
In your discussion this week, look at one specific Earthwork art and consider the following questions. Try to focus on one or two questions in your initial post.
- What is it and where is it and what has it been made of? What is the theme? How long did it last?
- How is someone like Robert Smithson different from Christo and Jeanne-Claude?
- What is the difference between male and female artists who create in the genre, or is there a difference?
- Can you really own an Earthwork work of art?