When environmentalism and art intersect
In 1967, Richard Long walked back and forth and back and forth in a grassy field in Wiltshire, Southern England, then took a photo of the line his steps left in the grass. This photo is titled “A Line Made by Walking” and is now considered to be a seminal work of land art. Long’s work from 1967 calls to mind the global protest held on Friday, September 27, in which young people marched, walking back and forth, hoping to leave their imprint on the minds of the government. Long’s work, and land art in general, should stand as a metaphor for environmental activism and a possible new way forward.
Land art began in the 1960s and 1970s as a new environmental consciousness arose. Artists rejected traditional gallery spaces and used the Earth itself as the medium, the message, and the collaborating partner. Key themes of land art are entropy and ephemerality, the former referring to the inevitable degradation of the work, and the latter referring to the fleeting nature of the art.
The most notable work of land art is a large spiral relief by artist Robert Smithson called “Spiral Jetty” (1970). Smithson moved 6650 tonnes of basalt to create a large spiral in Great Salt Lake, Utah. The jetty does not mirror the natural, but rather contrasts unnaturally with the surrounding lake, exposing human domination of the natural landscape. Smithson’s work captures human presence on the earth, showing how our presence can be felt even in the barren desert. However, the spiral has softened in colour over time, and as new crusts of salt form on the edges of the jetty, the viewer can see nature reclaiming her canvas. This work expresses both the domination of the land by humans, and, over time, nature’s attempt to reclaim the land.
Staring into the face of mass extinction and irreversible climate changes, we witness the process of entropy, a gradual decline into disorder. Humans have pushed the Amazon and glaciers to the point of ephemerality. Ecosystems we once thought of as permanent are becoming ephemeral works on our landscape. As time passes and little is done to stop the degradation of our planet, protestors, just like land artists, have decided to create change from the outside, on the lawn of Queen’s Park, to affect change on the inside of the government buildings.
This art epitomizes the necessary way forward. Long’s notion of the artist as necessary to create this piece symbolizes the journey we take on the land; how we act upon our Earth no matter how detached from it we may feel. The line left in the grass symbolizes the imprint we as humans have on the Earth. Unfortunately, human impact is, at this time, much more severe than a line in the grass. This line in the grass likely disappeared after hours as nature grew, and covered traces left by the artist. However, people are beginning to walk as Long walked.
EcoArt espouses the importance of both the environment and art. Art is emotional, sympathetic, and kind to artists and viewers alike. OISE at UofT has instituted murals on the walls of the stairwells that they call “EcoArt” (a branch of land art), and while they do not fit the exact description of EcoArt or land art, they serve as a reminder of the beauty of nature in a city that conquers it. Land art, and Long’s work specifically, shows a gentle relationship with the land and leaves a mark that does not permanently scar the Earth. We must regard the works that rose out of an environmental awakening in the 60s and 70s as representations of our effect on the land, as in Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” (1970), and as metaphors of a non-destructive relationship to strive for, like Long’s in “A Line Made By Walking” (1967).
Comments are closed.