Earth Week : 6 Environmental Works of Art
Including one located right here in Utah.
1. River Cubes,by Bob Johnson. The artist gathered debris from local rivers and created sculptures of the garbage to display along side the river. The sculptures create powerful images to the viewer about how drastically society can alter the natural landscape.
2. Wheatfield – a Confrontation,by Agnes Denes. In 1982, Denes planted 2 acres of wheat on top of the Battery Park Landfill in Manhattan. Which resulted in 1,000 lbs of wheat harvested and taken around the work in “The International Art Show for the End of World Hunger.” The point of this piece was a “comment on human values and misplaced priorities.”
3.Agricultural Compositionsby Jean Paul Ganem. Land fields of waste and pollution were cleaned up and turned into colorful compositions using plants. The work is best viewed from the sky.
4.Surrounded Islandsby Christo and Jeanne-Claude. A pair of artists created polypropylene sheets and temporarily surrounded 11 small islands off Miami. One of largest installation pieces.
5. Time Landscape by Alan Sonfist. In 1978 Sonfist filled a vancant lot in Manhattan with trees native to the area. Big into historically accurate landscpaes he creates a sort of time stamp for the landscape as it was in its natural state, before development & urban sprawl.
6.Spiral Jettyby Robert Smithson. Created in 1970 right here in the Great Salt Lake, this work built of stones and other natural elements continues to evolve with the changing landscape. The jetty goes through different stages of submerging & remerging depending on the water levels and other environmental changes.
