Land Art and Street Art Notes

Introduction to Land Art

Land art is a form of art that manipulates the landscape to create a new experience of space.
The earliest examples are the Nazca Lines, created between 200 BC and 900 AD in the Peruvian landscape.
It's a visual art form that incorporates the whole of nature into the artwork.
Land art often involves natural processes that have a destructive influence on the artwork, such as tides and erosion.
The impermanence of the art is often factored into the concept.
The remote location and impermanence influence the experience of the land art piece.
Viewers may not see the actual work unless they travel to the remote location.
Artists often exhibit photos and video to allow a wider audience to experience the work.
The term "land art" comes from a German television film in 1969.

Omissions: Creating a negative imprint in the landscape by removing elements, such as creating pits, ditches, or walls with bulldozers and excavators in abstract formations.
Additions: Introducing unnatural elements into the landscape, where the interaction between nature and the placed object forms the essence of the artwork.
Interaction: The landscape serves as a necessary backdrop for an action performed by the artist, with time and natural processes like tides being important elements.

Much land art is temporary, changing due to time, weather, erosion, or seasons.
This impermanence is often part of the concept.
Strong connection to conceptual art.
Often large-scale.
Frequently located far from inhabited areas.
Often documented through photography or film.
Predominantly found in the USA, Great Britain, and the Netherlands.
Originated as a reaction against the commercial art market.
The environment (nature) is not just a background but an active part of the artwork.

Title: Spiral Jetty
Year: 1970
Technique: Land art
Artist: Robert Smithson
Description: A pier that is 457 meters long and approximately 4 meters wide.
Current Status: Submerged due to rising water levels and dam construction.
Construction: Smithson dumped 7000 tons of black rock, earth, and salt crystals into the polluted lake.
Significance: Considered an iconic example of land art.

Title: Sun Tunnels
Year: 1971
Technique: Land art
Artist: Nancy Holt
Description: Composed of 4 large concrete tubes arranged in an X.
Alignment: Each tunnel is aligned with the sunrise or sunset of the summer or winter solstice.

Title: A Line Made by Walking
Year: 1967
Technique: Land art
Artist: Richard Long
Description: Created by Long walking an uninterrupted line in a grass field in Wiltshire, England, and then photographing the result.
Significance: Considered an important early work in both land art and conceptual art.

Title: Double Negative
Year: 1971
Technique: Land art
Artist: Michael Heizer
Dimensions: 457 meters long, 9 meters wide, 15 meters deep.
Concept: The "negative" in the title refers to the natural and man-made negative space from which the work is created.
Essence: The work consists of what is not there, or what has been displaced.

Title: Wrapped Reichstag
Year: 1985
Technique: Land art
Artist: Christo
Description: The Reichstag was wrapped for two weeks in 1995 with 100,000 square meters of silver fabric draped over the building and tied with blue rope.
Significance: It became a symbol of the unified Germany and marked the return of Berlin as a world city.

Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility.
It has evolved from challenging graffiti to a more commercial art form.
Street art often aims to provoke thought in the general public rather than rejection.
Graffiti is usually created illegally, while street art can be the product of an agreement or commission.
Street art differs from traditional art through its explicit use of public space.
Slogans of protest and political/social commentary graffiti on walls are the precursors to modern graffiti and street art.
Modern street art dates back to the graffiti boom in New York City, emerging in the 1960s, maturing in the 1970s, and peaking with murals on subway cars in the 1980s, especially in the Bronx.

Four categories found:
- Tagging graffiti: People left their names on walls or columns.
- Passionate graffiti: Expressed feelings, thoughts, and passions in short statements. Example: 'Amplicatus, I know that Icarus bothers you.'
- Advertising graffiti: Used for political and public announcements. Example: 'I ask you to choose Lucius Popidius Ampliatus.'
- Graphic graffiti: Included numerous indecent inscriptions and drawings on public walls, especially in brothels.

Description: A famous graffiti expression that became known worldwide during World War II.
Elements: The text "Kilroy was here" accompanied by a simple drawing of a bald man (Mr. Chad) with a large nose peering over a wall.
Usage: American soldiers wrote it everywhere they went – on walls, vehicles, toilets, bridges, etc.
Origin Theory: Started with an inspector named James Kilroy, who inspected ships and noted "Kilroy was here" to indicate he had done his work.

Street Art: Relatively new term for the ancient culture of applying signs to walls and going public.
Graffiti: Unofficial texts and images on walls.
Graffiti originates from the Italian word sgraffire, a technique for decorating building facades with layered plaster.

Located in public spaces like walls, bridges, streets, and buildings.
Visible to everyone, outside museums or galleries.
Offers much freedom in style, technique, and subject.
Can be colorful, black and white, funny, critical, or poetic.
Includes graffiti (letters/tags), murals, stencils, stickers, posters, installations, and 3D art.
Also uses temporary forms like chalk or tape.
Often applied quickly, especially illegal street art.
Can be legal, especially at festivals or city projects.
Used to express opinions or protest themes like environment, inequality, freedom, or identity.
Often reacts to the location where it is placed.

The act of gardening on land that the gardeners do not have the legal rights to utilize, such as abandoned sites, private property, or public areas.

Also known as yarn bombing, involves covering objects in public places with knitted or crocheted yarn or fiber, adding color and texture to the environment.