Flavorwire » land art

Photo Gallery: Jim Denevan’s Epic Sand Drawings

Caroline Stanley — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:30:33 +0000

If you’re headed to a beach this weekend, here’s a little something to ponder as you stroll along the sand — the work of Santa Cruz-based chef, surfer, and artist Jim Denevan, which we just spotted thanks to Colossal. As the man responsible for creating what has been dubbed the “largest freehand drawing in the world” (it measured 3 miles across, and took him eight days to complete), Denevan uses a stick or rake to make geometric, large-scale pieces that are often washed away with the tide in a matter of hours. Can you imagine what that feels like? Click through to view photos of a few of our favorites.

Courtesy of Jim Denevan

Daily Dose Pick: James Turrell

Paul Laster — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:08:13 +0000

A pioneer in light and land art, James Turrell is best known for his transformation of a massive crater in the Arizona desert into a celestial observatory.

While preparing his land project, Turrell began making “skyspaces” — light installations that bring the heavens into exhibition spaces — and turned his investigations of projected colored light, backlit planes of tinted glass, and strikingly minimal holograms into ever-growing perceptual wonders in galleries and museums worldwide.

View Turrell’s Art:21 site, read an in-depth interview with the artist, and find out about his current installation at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg.

James Turrell, Roden Crater, view from southwest, © James Turrell, Foto/photo: Florian Holzherr, 2003

James Turrell, Roden Crater, East Portal, © James Turrell, Foto / photo: Florian Holzherr

James Turrell, Roden Crater, Crater's Eye (daylight), © James Turrell, Foto / photo: Florian Holzherr

James Turrell, Roden Crater, East Portal, Skyspace, © James Turrell, Foto / photo: Florian Holzherr

Once Again, Let’s Save the Jetty

Kelsey Keith — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:01:05 +0000

Pop quiz: what is 1500 feet long, 15 feet wide, coiled into a counterclockwise spiral deep in Mormon territory, and made of mud, salt crystal, and rock? If you’ve ever taken ARTH101, you know the answer is Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, a seminal piece from the Land Art movement constructed in 1970 in the Great Salt Lake in Utah. In the 39 years since its installation, Spiral Jetty has faced a number of threats to its existence, from natural erosion to proposed oil drilling by Amoco. Last week Modern Art Notes reported on a new industrial challenge to the site, as Great Salt Lake Minerals hopes to expand its operations by 91,000 acres, essentially evaporating the lake bed upon which the earthwork rests.

Though many argue that Land Art is inherently at risk to environmental changes and should be left alone, it’s hard to imagine a laissez-faire treatment of Spiral Jetty considering its status as a case study for postmodern art. Smithson’s aesthetic influences for the piece ranged from the molecular structure of salt to Constantin Brancusi’s abstract portrait of James Joyce, and it’s actually been submerged for a good three decades of its life due to fluctuating lake water levels. Not to mention, the jetty is located in a remote corner of Utah hardly accessible to the general populace and before the advent of Google satellite, the best way to view it was (and may still be) Smithson’s half-hour documentary The Spiral Jetty, excerpted below.

The artist’s most well-known work, finished three years before his untimely death in a plane crash at age 35, is an elusive yet significant part of the postmodern canon, and one that we think deserves a shot at preservation. What say you: fight the man, or let nature do its handiwork via a mining company?

Read more about the environmental and industrial challenges facing Spiral Jetty on Modern Art News and specific details on the mineral firm proposal at The Salt Lake Tribune. And for an inside account of Smithson’s earthwork, check out Kenneth Baker’s article at Tate Etc.