Learn
Environmental Art - In a general sense, it is art that helps improve our relationship with the natural world. There is no definition set in stone. Much environmental art is ephemeral (made to disappear or transform), designed for a particular place (and can’t be moved) or involves collaborations between artists and others, such as scientists, educators or community groups (distributed ownership).
Explore
Robert Smithson was an American artist and writer known for pioneering the Land Art movement. He is known for his monumental earthen sculptures such as Spiral Jetty (1970).
Spiral Jetty, 1970
The Spiral Jetty is perhaps the most well-known earthworks art. The Spiral Jetty is located in Great Salt Lake, Utah. To reach the location of the artwork, travelers must traverse treacherous, distant roads. Once there, they’ll find a 15 feet (4.572 m) wide and 1,500 feet (457.2 m) long coil made of black basalt rocks and sediment that weighs over 6,000 tons (more than 5443 metric tons).
The Spiral Jetty spent decades under salty water and reappeared only after the area experienced five years of drought. A crusty layer of salt now gives the black basalt rocks a white appearance.
Spiral Jetty, 2006
Watch this amazing video of the Spiral Jetty. It is really cool to see how big it really is!
Watch this video that was just made in April 2020. Try and see if you notice any changes to the Spiral compared to when in was created in 1970.
Create
Robert Smithson was inspired by nature, designs found in nature (spiral), and also the idea of change.
Create your own environmental art, use natural elements like rocks, stick, leaves, dirt etc... Consider documenting the change your earth art undergoes as it becomes exposed to rain, sun, and wind. You could take pictures or just write and draw about what happens! Think of it as an art experiment!