Alanna Spence
Minimalism Seminar
CCA April 2007
Places (Earth and Land) Sharp, advice Smithson, Heizer, Oppenheim
This week’s readings address Earthworks art from the mid 1960s. This art form follows in the wake of Minimalism, and some artists admit to having been influenced by some aspects of Minimalism, but they feel their work has moved away from Minimalism’s main objectives. I think one of the biggest attractions to nature and outdoor sites is the feeling that the world is bigger than us. Mankind is insignificant. Earthworks try to commune with the Sublime. De Maria said ”God has created the earth and we have ignored it.” By focusing on large, outdoor sites, we will hopefully begin to see a bigger picture of the world. Where Minimalism was interested in body-art interaction, Earthworks have completely removed the ability for the human body to relate to such a large scale.
Much of the work is interested in time, mass, and scale on a geological proportion. This also speaks to an interest in work that illustrates a larger world than the human experience. I think because of this interest, one aspect of the work is an anti-anthropomorphic quality.
Though the work is site specific and interested in non-traditional and large scale outdoor sites, there is still a relationship with the gallery. These artists still understand if their work is to be shared, they need to honor a relationship with the galleries. Much of the work is shown as documentation; weather data, topographical maps, photographs of the work, or installations of pieces from the site all serve to honor the artist gallery relationship. This seems a sticking point as artists like Smithson, Heizer, and Oppenheim are interested in escaping from art as commodity. Each artists has varying degrees of disinterest for the gallery space. The relationship between the gallery and the site are an important aspect for Smithson. He likes the dichotomy between gallery and outdoors. He feels that his art is not about nature, it’s about art, and art is for viewing, and in the end where it is viewed doesn’t matter as much. Oppenheim still makes work for galleries but he thinks that over time, the need for gallery friendly work will dissipate. Heizer is not interested in the gallery space because his work is about scale; something you can’t reproduce in a gallery setting.
Continuing with the theme of non-object, all artists are interested in art that doesn’t belong on a pedestal. For Oppenheim, the idea of not making an object that sits on top of the ground drove him to doing works involving excavation. He started moving the ground itself as his work. Many of the artists are interested in works that have their own lifespans. The pieces have births and deaths and so cannot be fully experienced in a single moment.
The common ideas between artists practicing Earthworks seems to be an interest in presenting time, space, mass on a grand scale. To me, experiencing this art brings into focus the brevity and relative unimportance of human existence. This experience is only powerful when viewed at a scale that itself is larger than human life.