Drawing from Modernism: Four Instantces of Environmental Art

Drawing from Modernism: Four Instantces of Environmental Art

Topic:

Critically analyse the work of 4 major artists working loosely in the field of

sculpture whose works are defined by a focus on the environment, and

analyse the influences underpinning their work.

Modern art set the foundations for the vast array of art works presented today. One of the most notable

changes is the advent of Environmental artworks, including site-specific art, and works that have an en-

vironmental component. While there has been a distinct visual change between Environmental art

works and traditional art forms, it is the changes which underpin the development of these works that

show the most remarkable shift.

1968 is viewed as the birth year of Environmental art, not because it marked the first environmental art

work (which could debatably date back to prehistoric times), but because several key Environmental art

exhibitions were held in this year1. This was around the same time as other conceptual movements

were beginning to gain prominence. Hal Foster, an art theorist, described this change as a shift from a

vertical conception of art, where value is decided through repetition of style and technique, to a horizon-

tal conception, where art is actively involved in the culture of a theme or discourse2. He noted how this

has positioned art in a more political and sociological stance: ‘many artists and critics treat conditions

like desire or disease ... as sites for art’3, and from this point art was able to make a departure from,

ironically, the traditional art object.

1 Tufnell, Ben. Land art. New York: Tate, Abrams, 2006.p. 132 Foster, Hal. The return of the real: the avant-garde at the end of the century. Mass:

Cambridge, 1996. p.184 3 Hopkins, David. After modern art 1945-2000. Oxford, 2000. P.178

Drawing from Modernism: Four Instantces of Environmental Art 1

This departure has come to be described as positioning art in an ‘expanded field’; a term coined by

Rosalind Krauss4. Krauss gives a non-historically driven perspective of the development of environ-

mental art. She postulates that sculpture became abstracted from its relationship with the idea of the

monument in the 19th century, and was no longer restricted to a static position on a plinth5. By the

1950’s sculpture also began to lose its identity, as Krauss describes ‘modernist sculpture appeared as a

kind of black hole in the space of consciousness ...a kind of ‘categorical no-mans-land’ 6. Sculpture

began to be defined in terms of a combination of exclusions that Krauss defines as a ‘Logically Expan-

ded Field’7, Essentially an object that is both ‘not landscape’ and ‘not architecture’ = sculpture. How-

ever, this logic term could be inverted to encompass the object that is both landscape and architecture

leaving artists with an ‘expanded field’ of sculpture to work with, which is no longer defined by medium8.

Foster and Krauss both describe changes in the theoretical structure of art occurring during Modernism

that allowed art to move in a vastly different direction. The progression and expansion of Environmental

art demonstrates how these theories and philosophies have been built upon and extended. However

while Foster and Krauss both look at the changes from a non-linear and non-historical perspective the

styles and concepts theoretically underpinning many Environmental Artworks, often draw from linear

and historical Modernist philosophies. Through looking at a specific selection of artworks representing a

variety of countries, both gallery based and site specific, from a cross section of dates, the continuing

influence of Modernist philosophies can be shown in these heterogeneous art forms.

4 Krauss, Rosalind. “Sculpture in the Expanded Field.” October 8 (Spring 1979): p.31-44.

5 ibid.6 ibid.7 ibid.8 ibid.


GRASS GROWS 1969 - HANS HAACKE

Grass Grows, produced in 1969 is a West-German art piece that built upon an earlier work from

1966. While 1970 marked Hans Haacke’s move into the more widely-known politically motivated, often

controversial art works9, previously much of his work surrounded the concepts of organic growth and

change10. His gallery based installations focused on organic life, involving living natural materials like

plants and animals. Grass Grows involved allowing grass seeds to germinate and grow from a

small mound of soil in the exhibition venue11. These works commented on the manner in which they in-

teracted with their surrounding environment, as Haacke stated12

"[it is to]...make something which experiences, reacts to its environment, changes, is non-stable ... make

something sensitive to light and temperature changes, that is subject to air currents and depends, in its

functioning, on the forces of gravity...articulate something natural".

9 Hans Haacke, Hans Haacke, unfinished business (New York ;Cambridge Mass.: New Museum of Contemporary Art ;MIT Press, 1986). p.710 Stangos, Nikos. Concepts of modern art : from fauvism to postmodernism. 3rd ed. New York N.Y.:

Thames and Hudson, 1994.p.4211 Stangos, Nikos. Concepts of modern art : from fauvism to postmodernism. 3rd ed. New York N.Y.:

Thames and Hudson, 1994.p.4212 Kastner, Jeffrey. Land and environmental art. London: Phaidon Press, 2005. P.32


These works were the immediate predecessors to later works which were decidedly environmental-

ist in direction like Monument to Beach Pollution of 1970. They indicated a turning point in

Haacke’s practice13, as described in Kastner and Wallis14,

The phenomenon of organic growth as an essential part of an ecosystem is an early example of issues that

would later be explored in more fully developed ecological artworks.

While Haacke later moved away from environmental works to more political based art, his work has

remained strongly conceptual and in contrast to many artist who moved their works out of the gallery

space, Haacke’s works shows environmental sculptures moving into the gallery.

Grass Grows consists of a small, semi-conical mound on which a short, yet spiky grass has been

seeded. The mound itself is unassuming and if encountered outside would be largely unremarkable

(with exception, perhaps, of its formal symmetry), however in the gallery space the mound gains pres-

ence. Similar to Warhol’s use of banal objects like Brillo boxes15, context forces the viewer to consider

the mound and what it means. While the work is a gallery-based art object it is also a living, growing life-

form. In its simplicity, Grass Grows eloquently sums up the artists concepts and idea surrounding

life, growth and death, combined with time.

Conceptually, Haacke’s works used nonverbal language to convey or gather information to broach com-

plex non-visual issues16. In essence he has come to regard art as ‘linked to "mythical time", a concept

that separated art from real life events’17 and strived to produce art which existed and developed in ‘real-

time’. Grass Grows focused on physical and biological processes of change, renewal, and decay18.

Artistically it could also be argued that Haacke was reacting against some of the core tenets of Modern-

13 Stangos, Nikos. loc. cit. Concepts of modern art : from fauvism to postmodernism. 3rd ed. New York N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1994.p.42

14 Kastner, Jeffrey. op. cit. Land and environmental art. London: Phaidon Press, 2005 .p13815 Catherine Speck, “'Mechanical Ballets: light, motion and theatre' Kinetic Art, op art and happenings” (Lec-ture, University of Adelaide, October 6, 2009).16 Stangos, Nikos. Concepts of modern art : from fauvism to postmodernism. 3rd ed. New

York N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1994. P.26517 Krug, Don, and Jennifer Siegenthaler. “Changing Views About Art and the Earth.” Greenmuseum.org, 2006. http://greenmuseum.org/c/aen/Earth/Changing/artist.php.

18 ibid http://greenmuseum.org/c/aen/Earth/Changing/artist.php


http://greenmuseum.org/c/aen/Earth/Changing/artist.php

ism; that through technology and politics the Bourgeois religion of art and culture would be brought to

an end19.

The developments of various styles during Modernism set precedent for artworks like Grass Grows.

The process of pairing-down or reducing the elements of an artwork, in an attempt to access a more

fundamental language and can be seen in various Modernist artworks, for example the works of De Stijl

artists like Piet Mondrian, who began reducing the landscape to its most basic formal qualities ending

with compositions that consisted of bold black lines, white backgrounds and primary colours20.

While visually Grass Grows differs drastically from the Neo-plastic works of Mondrian, it has still

been reduced to its most basic elements in order to passively communicate a fundamental concept of

life, (in a similar manner to Mondrian communicating a theosophical universal truth) that there were ‘en-

during qualities which lay behind the accidental or surface appearance of things’21. Thus Minimalism is a

strong component of this work even though the industrial materials typical of Minimalist works are not

used22. Embodied in this work is the Minimalist belief that a work of art should be completely conceived

by the mind before its execution23, or concept before production.

In this work we can also see manifestations of Haacke’s rejection of some of the core elements that

Modernists embraced in technology and a distinctive reaction against the ferocity and speed of Futur-

ism. While machines would likely have been employed to make this work a reality, there is no manmade

materials present and the process of grass growing is undeniably passive and slow. Interestingly, when

viewing this work, early abstractionist principals could be conceptually applied. If the blades of grass are

not viewed as individual, but symbolic of the idea of a ‘blade of grass’, Grass Grows could be cri-

19 Stangos, Nikos. op. cit. p.42 Concepts of modern art : from fauvism to postmodernism. 3rd ed. New York N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1994. P.42

20 Speck, Catherine. “Utopias: Constructivism, Suprematism and the Bauhaus.” Lecture, University of Adelaide, August 31, 2009.21 Meecham, Pam. Modern art : a critical introduction. 2nd ed. London ;New York: Routledge,

2005. P.5522 Meecham, Pam. Modern art : a critical introduction. 2nd ed. London ;New York: Routledge,

2005.p.27923 Stangos, Nikos. Concepts of modern art : from fauvism to postmodernism. 3rd ed. New

York N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1994. P.245


tiqued visually as both a Cubist work, with its representation from multiple perspectives and Futurist, as

it represents them from different points in the passage of time.

LIGHTNING FIELD 1977 - WALTER DE MARIA

Lightning Field of 1977 is one of Walter De Maria’s best known works, and he is one of the

first noted identities of Environmental art. His earliest environmental pieces were Mile Long Draw-

ing and Cross in 196824, the same year noted as the birth year of Environmental art as a genre due

to several pivotal exhibitions that included Earthworks in New York25, in which De Maria was in-

volved26. His sculpture Lightening Field comprises of 400 pointed stainless steel rods, spread 220

24 Tufnell, Ben. Land art. London ;New York: Tate, 2006. P.5725 Tufnell, Ben. ibid p.12Land art. London ;New York: Tate, 2006. p.1226 Kastner, Jeffrey. Land and environmental art. London: Phaidon Press, 2005.p.289


feet apart. As lightening strikes, the rods ignite creating a vast net of visible electric charges27, which are

viewable from a small log cabin, located on site, a safe distance away28.

This work combines a number of different elements that imposed strict criteria for the works creation. It

took 5 years for a suitable site to be found with the correct combination of isolated open space and at-

mospheric conditions29. Contrary to other Environmental Artworks, where the landscape plays an integ-

ral part as the site for the artwork to be placed, De Maria’s art work is dependent on its site. As De

Maria described ‘The land is not the setting for the work but a part of the work’30. At the core of the

sculpture are the forces of nature, which are literally required to perform and complete the work31. This

relationship places the artwork at the mercy of nature, as there are only approximately 60 days per year

when thunder and lightning activity can potentially be viewed from the lightening field, thus the viewer is

not guaranteed to see the full extent of the artwork32.

In Lightning Field the long, thin polls jut out of the earth over a vast distance and are only properly

visible during dawn and dusk when the light hits the polls. Placed in a grid pattern at regular intervals,

there is a man-made formality to them that contrasts sharply with the low lying scrub of the surrounding

flat land and the strength of nature in the lightening hit. The emotive quality of the poles alone is cold

and impersonal but become awe-inspiring and sublime when hit by lightning. The impression is one of

symbiosis functioning between art and nature leaving the artist on the sidelines.

De Maria has been associated with Conceptualism, Minimalism, Land art and Installation since the

1960’s33; however Lightning Field resonates with the influences of the Dadaist’s. The integral, yet

unpredictable part nature plays in ‘completing’ this work essentially usurps its function as an ongoing,

aesthetic, static art piece for the viewer to enjoy at leisure. This has similarities in the Dadaist intent to

27 Kastner, Jeffrey. ibid Land and environmental art. London: Phaidon Press, 2005.28 Hopkins, David. After modern art 1945-2000. Oxford, 2000. P.17529 Kastner, Jeffrey. Land and environmental art. London: Phaidon Press, 2005.p23230 Kastner, Jeffrey. ibid Land and environmental art. London: Phaidon Press, 2005.p23231 Hopkins, David. After modern art 1945-2000. Oxford, 2000. P. 17632 Kastner, Jeffrey. op. cit p.233Land and environmental art. London: Phaidon Press, 2005. P

23333 Kastner, Jeffrey. ibid Land and environmental art. London: Phaidon Press, 2005.p.289


produce art that moves against the capitalist climate of bourgeoisie demand for artworks34. Essentially

both types of work have potential for opposition of their audiences’ enjoyment.

Visually Lightning Field bears similarity to the Minimalist industrial materials35, even spaced repeti-

tion and geometric placement. While this may have a practicality given certain metals are more con-

ductive than others, it invites the viewer to consider universal themes of man in collaboration with

nature.

Lightning Field strikes a theoretical similarity with Kinetic Art and artists like Yves Tinguely. While

there are no moving mechanical parts in Lightning Field, it requires an instigator other than the

artist to complete the process. Tinguely’s Metamatics were constructed to produce an artwork by

intervention of the potential viewer, where De Maria’s Lightning Field functions only with the inter-

vention of certain atmospheric conditions. Both leave the artist in the position of the audience. The de-

velopment of this re-contextualisation of the role of the artist, during Modernisms revitalisation of art into

a conceptual field, allowed artworks where the artist was not apparent as the producer, to exist in

today’s art world.

Lightning Field is a diverse artwork, showing many different influences, which raises questions

about the functionality of an artwork when it is not ‘complete’, the juxtaposition of manmade materials

and natural events and the conceptual implications of the role of the artist.

34 Stangos, Nikos. Concepts of modern art : from fauvism to postmodernism. 3rd ed. New York N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1994. P. 113

35 Meecham, Pam. Modern art : a critical introduction. 2nd ed. London ;New York: Routledge, 2005. P.279


SUMACH LEAVES LAID AROUND A HOLE 1998 - ANDY GOLDSWORTHY

Andy Goldsworthy’s installations using natural materials demonstrate his working practices of place-

ment and ephemerality. Goldsworthy began to produce Environmental artworks in the 1970’s while he

was studying, working out of the studios doing exploratory works using natural materials36. The British

avant-garde was, at the time, better known outside Britain and as a result Goldsworthy drew his inspira-

tion from the likes of Yves Klein, Robert Smithson's’ Spiral Jetty from 1970 and by Joseph Beuys

Bog Action of 1971 and later Richard Long’s artworks37.

Goldsworthy sees himself as a Formalist38, concerned with abstracted forms, which are richly symbolic

like holes, voids, circular patterns, spirals and wandering lines39. While perhaps best known for his eph-

emeral works that exist only in photographs, Goldsworthy has also produced a number of ‘permanent’

36 Tufnell, Ben. Land art. London ;New York: Tate, 2006. p.8137 Goldsworthy, Andy. Hand to earth : Andy Goldsworthy sculpture, 1976-1990. New

York: H.N. Abrams, 1993. P.1338 Tufnell, Ben. Land art. London ;New York: Tate, 2006. P.8139 Tufnell, Ben. ibid p.82Land art. London ;New York: Tate, 2006. P.82


commissions later in his career, from about 198640, which extend the underlying themes and working

methodologies of his ephemeral works. Andrew Causey in Hand to Earth describes Goldsworthy’s

interactions with nature thus41:

…Goldsworthy is a collaborator with nature, interested in the way wind and rain form pools in

the folds of his earthworks, the sun and shadow encourage some growth and not other.

Goldsworthy’s ephemeral installations utilise natural materials and often only last for a few short mo-

ments (long enough to be documented), before blowing or melting away. While these works are man-

made, the materials give them an organic quality as if they could have happened by chance.

Goldsworthy viewed himself as a formalist. While there have been various incarnations of formalism,

the style was actively developed by Clive Bell and Roger Fry in 1912-14. The focus was on process,

line, colour, tone and mass, emphasising the importance of the visual qualities of a work42, which Fry

described as the ‘emotional elements of design’43. The influence of formalism on Goldsworthy’s art can

be viewed in the emphasis on process and colour and use of line and shape.

The bold use of colour enriches works like Maple Leaves of 1991 or Sumach Leaves laid

around a hole of 1998, with an energy and vibrancy reminiscent of the colour-field paintings of

artists, such as Mark Rothko. Rothko viewed red tones as having energising properties44, and like other

artists including Yves Kline (who was a known influence of Goldsworthy’s) believed in a spirituality of

colour. They took the formalist elements of artists like Kazimir Malevich and focused them on col-

our.

40 Goldsworthy, Andy. Hand to earth : Andy Goldsworthy sculpture, 1976-1990. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1993. P.143

41 Goldsworthy, Andy. ibid. p.127 Hand to earth : Andy Goldsworthy sculpture, 1976-1990. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1993. P.127

42 Meecham, Pam. Modern art : a critical introduction. 2nd ed. London ;New York: Routledge, 2005. pp.26-27

43 As quoted in Gott, Ted. Modern Britain 1900-1960. Melbourne Vic. ;Hove: National Gallery of Victoria 2008. P. 37

44 Catherine Speck, “Dystopias: Expressionism, 'primitivism', post World War II abstraction” (Lecture, Univer-sity of Adelaide, September 14, 2009).


The ephemerality of Goldsworthy’s natural installations also has an element of performance, as it exists

only for a short time and is often only captured through documentation in the form of photographs and

visual recordings. The extension of art to encompass performance has opened the gateway for ephem-

eral works to be considered art forms.

Performance art developed from a fascination with the process of producing an artwork. Harold Rosen-

berg theorised that the work of art was in the ‘act’ of producing the artwork itself, and relegated the end

product to the position of a ‘souvenir’ of the process45. This is particularly relevant when the works of an

Abstract Expressionist, Action-painter like Jackson Pollock is viewed. While the painting does have

formal qualities controlled by Pollock, the movement and process is what is most apparent and in some

cases documented to show process46.

Thus through the development of Modernist art forms like Action-painting the ‘performance’ of making a

work gained prominence, leading to emphasis on the ‘performance’ in Performance art. This finally

evolved into allow the production of an art work become an art form that no longer has a need to pro-

duce a definitive end product, but could exist in documentation. Thus installations like Goldsworthy’s

can exist without the need for permanency.

45 Meecham, Pam. Modern art : a critical introduction. 2nd ed. London ;New York: Routledge, 2005. P238

46 Meecham, Pam. ibid Modern art : a critical introduction. 2nd ed. London ;New York: Rout-ledge, 2005. P. 238


MALLEEFOWL NESTS 2008 - JAMES DARLING

James Darling began producing his iconographic Malleefowl Nests in 199447. He was influenced

heavily by artists such as Ad Reinhardt, Frank Stella, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol who were featured

in an exhibition Two Decades of American Painting, which Darling visited in 196748. How-

ever he did not see the Marcel Duchamp exhibition that toured Australia around the same time, de-

scribed as having an ‘aesthetic plainness ... crucial for Darling’s later embrace of plane, common ob-

jects’49. For Darling, Minimalist art was ‘a jolt of self recognition’ and would influence his agricultural

philosophy as well as his art50.

These installations highlight the endangered status of the Malleefowl, which has suffered loss of habitat

since the settlement of the area51, and draw the viewer’s attention to the symbiotic link between human

and environment. 'Nature is not a background' is one of Darling’s familiar sayings52.

47 Thomas, Daniel. James Darling : instinct, imagination, physical work. Kent Town S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2001. P.16

48 Thomas, Daniel. ibid p.6James Darling : instinct, imagination, physical work. Kent Town S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2001.p.6

49 Thomas, Daniel. ibid James Darling : instinct, imagination, physical work. Kent Town S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2001. P.6

50 Thomas, Daniel. ibid p.7 James Darling : instinct, imagination, physical work. Kent Town S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2001. P.7

51 Thomas, Daniel. James Darling : instinct, imagination, physical work. Kent Town S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2001. P.16

52 Paul Downton, “Everyone Lives Downstream: James Darling and Lesley Forwood,” Artlink Magazine 25, no. 1 (2004), http://www.artlink.com.au/articles.cfm?id=2275. p. 6


http://www.artlink.com.au/articles.cfm?id=2275

The Malleefowl Nests are made of interlocking mallee roots that were a product of land clearing

when Darling and his partner Lesley Forwood moved into their farm, Duck Island in 197653. The produc-

tion of these nests carefully transformed these hard, irregular shaped roots into large circular mounds

with a gentle indentation at the middle. As Waterlow described54, ‘[the nest is] constructed with such

care and affection that it bestowed dignity and purpose on each root...’

The larger than life nests are formed with gently sloping slides carefully pieces together. They are unas-

suming in both their composition as well as their colour, much in the camouflaged manner of the real

nests. Their presence in the gallery brings the fowls plight to the viewer, asking the viewer to consider

the constructions that pay homage to the original malleefowl architects and their endangered status.

One of Darling’s primary conceptual inspirations is Donald Judd. In 1974 Judd was commissioned to

build a concrete, site-specific installation on the sloping lawn of the Art Gallery of South Australia. While

its parallels with actual Malleefowl nests are coincidental (as the nests can often be found on gently

sloping hills in Mallee country) its influence on the Malleefowl Nests is tangible; it reminded

Darling of the Minimalism he saw in New York and set a standard for him55. Judd’s work encompassed

Darlings concept of “wholeness”, as his art embraces the idea that mankind is not separate from nature,

just as mind is not separate from body56.

Minimalism is a strong influence on the Malleefowl Nests. While they are built of non-industrial

materials, the strong sense of geometry forged by the tightly interlocking roots gives an architectural

sense of sculpture. There is also a strong element of preplanning to these installations. The nest has

been pared down to a more basic form, yet rather than arbitrary representation, each nest Darling, and

his partner Lesley Forwood, build is based on a real Malleefowl Nest, as it was right before con-

struction, with different nests reflecting different things about the fowls that created them, varying in size

53 Fenner, Felicity. Handle with care : 2008 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. Adelaide S. Aust.: Art Gallery of South Australia, 2008.p.73

54 Fenner, Felicity. ibid p.32 Handle with care : 2008 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. Adelaide S. Aust.: Art Gallery of South Australia, 2008.p.32

55 Thomas, Daniel. James Darling : instinct, imagination, physical work. Kent Town S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2001. p.17

56 Thomas, Daniel. ibid p.7 James Darling : instinct, imagination, physical work. Kent Town S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2001. P.7


and workmanship depending on the age of the fowl and environment at the time of construction. They

are built to be viewed at both human standing height and from the fowl’s 40cm standing height57.

The nests themselves have an organic, earthy feel that resonates particularly among Australians who

are familiar with the iconographic sturdy roots as a good source of low-burning firewood. This use of

such a banal material for art production draws back to the artistic traditions of Arte Povera and the ac-

ceptance of utilising materials of commonplace, non-art origins which are essentially refuse58. Arte

Povera drew from the traditions established in Modernism as early as 1914, with the most noted instant

of the use of the non-art object in Marcel Duchamp’s Readymades59. Exhibited in the gallery space

these were everyday objects that were announced as art, and forced the art world to re-think how they

conceived of the art object. Thus through the door opened by Duchamp and widened in Arte Povera to

make use of discarded materials, gallery based artworks which make use of recycled materials, like the

Malleefowl Nests are common-place and accepted.

Modernism opened the doors to allow a variety of conceptual and physical aspects of art to exist, one of

the most notable of which is the development of Environmental art. Through the analysis of specific

works, aspects of the influence of Modernism can be highlighted. The selection of Hans Haacke’s

Grass Grows, Walter De Maria’s Lightning Field, the ephemeral artworks produced by Andy

Goldsworthy and James Darling’s Malleefowl Nests, seeks to highlight the diverse nature of en-

vironmental sculpture, incorporating examples of both site specific and gallery based art, from a variety

of countries from the beginning of the movement, in 1968, to present day.

While each work may have a variety of Modernist influences at play, from concept to construction, spe-

cific aspects have been selected to demonstrate the diversity of the Modernist influences including sim-

57 Thomas, Daniel. loc.cit. James Darling : instinct, imagination, physical work. Kent Town S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2001. 17

58 Perry, Gill, and Paul Wood, eds. Themes in Contemporary Art. London: Yale University Press, 2004.p.243

59 Perry, Gill, and Paul Wood, ibid p.55 eds. Themes in Contemporary Art. London: Yale Univer-sity Press, 2004. P.55


ilarities between the conceptual questions that the artworks raise, the materials used and the concepts

conveyed.

Haacke and Goldsworthy are comparable with their reliance on nature to create their respective art-

works. Both Grass Grows and works like Sumach Leaves laid around a hole are pro-

cess driven. Goldsworthy focuses on his own processes with organic materials, arranging them into a

predefined, symbolic shape or pattern, while Haacke uses the artworks own natural processes. Con-

trastingly, Goldsworthy’s works could be removed in a few seconds with the wind, while Haacke’s works

could remain indefinitely. Both artworks have been enabled by the development of performance art and

the changed philosophies of Minimalism.

Goldsworthy and Darling share similarities of material. Both use organic refuse, in the leaves, stone,

mud and ice of Goldsworthy’s installations and the discarded mallee roots of Darling’s Malleefowl

Nests. These materials are the legacy of the Modernist era, particularly in the ideas of arte povera and

pop that recontextualised the use of the non-art object into an artistic material.

De Maria and Haacke both make use of natural processes which are integral to their work. Nether work

could exist without nature as it is the natural processes which underpin the very function of the works as

art objects. Lightning Field would not exist without the lightning and Grass Grows would not

exist without growing grass. The establishment of Kinetic art and the changes in philosophy of the role

of the artists allowed these kinds of work to be conceived as art.

Through all of the selected environmental works, Minimalism has been a key influence in materials, as

in Lightning Field, concept in Grass Grows, colour in Goldsworthy’s installations and structure

in Malleefowl Nests.

The strong conceptual components of these Ecocentric Artwork, is a legacy of the transformations art

underwent in Modernism. Modernisms influences and philosophies are far reaching and pervade

throughout all of today’s Contemporary Art, shaping it into the diverse medium for artists to express

themselves and viewers to enjoy.


Image List

Hans Haacke, Grass Grows, New York, Earth, rye grass, variable,1969,

Walter De Maria, Lightning Field, New Mexico, Steel poles, 1.6 km x 1 km, Dia Foundation, 1977,Andy Goldsworthy, Sumach Leaves laid around a hole, Storm King Art Centre, Sumach leaves, variable, 1998

James Darling, Mallefowl Nest, Hall of Penola High School, Mallee roots, 85 x 590, 2008

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Jones, Jen. “green movement..” Dance Spirit 12, no. 4 (April 2008): 60-64. doi:Article.

Long, Richard. “Index.” Richard Long Official Website, 2000. http://www.richardlong.org/.

Lucie-Smith, Edward. Movements in Art Since 1945. World of Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 2000.

Nikos Stangos, Concepts of modern art : from fauvism to postmodernism., 3rd ed. (New York N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1994).

Pam Meecham, Modern art : a critical introduction, 2nd ed. (London ;New York: Routledge, 2005).

Perry, Gill, and Paul Wood, eds. Themes in Contemporary Art. London: Yale Univer-sity Press, 2004.


Image List

Richard Long, Walking the line (London: Thames and Hudson, 2002).

Rosalind Krauss, “Sculpture in the Expanded Field,” October 8 (Spring 1979): 31-44.

Ted Gott, Modern Britain 1900-1960 (Melbourne Vic. ;Hove: National Gallery of Victoria ;Roundhouse [distributor], 2008).


Documents

Drawing from Modernism: Four Instantces of Environmental Art