Art in the Landscape

Andy Goldsworhty ice sculpture

Site.....traditionally Gallery space

Situation....Those artistic practices for which the situation or context is often the starting point...Claire Doherty

Does artwork become important for its own qualities or is it the gallery that positions the importance and relevance of the work?

Robert Smithson Spiral jetty

During the 1960's artists such as Carl Andre began to reject the gallery as the site for displaying their work and began to react against the over commodification of art by producing work within the landscape.
 These works were often on such a scale that they could not be placed into a gallery space or they were sometimes of an ephemeral nature, completed in isolated places.

Earthworks or Land art as these artworks became to be known were not sculptures placed into the landscape,but the landscape was used as a means of their creation.



Claire Doherty is a bristol based curator who is currently leading a project called Situations that looks at the significance of context in the commissioning and production of contemporary art.

 The British curator, writer and Director of the Situations programme, Claire Doherty, considers how the time of public art is being shaken up. 


Doherty will consider her recent projects including One Day Sculpture, the year-long commissioning series in New Zealand and Black Cloud by Heather and Ivan Morison.She will also introduce her curatorial vision for Oslo Harbour in Norway.


 Situations is a research programme concentrating on contemporary art based at the University of West 
England, which also produces installations for public space.                                         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRCJLCZLMys           

Parts one and two
I dont know that I have fully grasped the concept of site and situation. I think that from and artists point of view that allowing the situation to be the starting point for creativity and working in the landscape allows for more freedom control and ownership of your work. In a sense you become artist and curator.
Ultimately as land artists have become recognized for their work the draw of the gallery comes back into play and curators become owners of the space your work is displayed in.