Ecological Art- Bringing Nature in as the Artist (Marie Cluff)


"These works foster a connection to the environment, as the environment itself continually alters the art."


From its earliest origins, art has been used to capture a glimpse of nature as a snapshot in time. Throughout different artistic periods, artists employed unique methods to express their experiences with the natural world. Yet, for much of history, the environment remained a backdrop, a tool to be manipulated on the canvas to convey a specific feeling or an idealized vision of what the artist observed. However, the rise of the environmentalist movement in the 1970s, fueled by growing concern over ecological health, drew the attention of the art world. It was during this period that artists began rethinking their relationship with nature. Perhaps art wasn’t just about depicting a scene. Perhaps artists could be more involved with the environment.

In his 2022 article Art and Nature: The Emergence of Ecological Art, author Domenic Witek invites readers to “discover how combining art and nature turned into an ecological and environmental battle during the 20th century.” Witek explains that, during the environmentalist movement, many artists started working outside the studio, directly engaging with the land rather than creating on a canvas. This emerging practice became known as in situ art, or “land art.”

In situ art is often a temporary representation of an artist’s idea, using nature itself as the art piece. In some cases, however, these works become semi-permanent or even permanent, like Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty—a 457-meter-long coil located in the bed of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Made entirely of sand and basalt rocks transported from the shoreline to the lake bed, Smithson’s “fern tip” coil appears and disappears as water levels rise and fall. To fully experience the work, one must be physically present.

Another land art piece that exists in a state of both permanence and impermanence is the Lightning Field in Quemado, New Mexico. In 1977, artist Walter De Maria installed 400 steel posts driven deep into the earth. Spread across a kilometer of open desert, the posts attract fleeting bolts of lightning, transmitting between 100 million and 1 billion volts of electricity into the surrounding ground and air. Visitors stay a safe distance away in a protected shed, observing and feeling the raw energy capable of vaporizing metal. While the installation is physically permanent, the artistic experience is brief, unpredictable, and varies nightly.

The shifting visibility of Spiral Jetty and the fleeting nature of the Lightning Field demonstrate one of the most distinctive qualities of ecological art: its dependence on environmental conditions to shape the viewer’s experience. These works foster a connection to the environment, as the environment itself continually alters the art. 

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