III. History of Traditional Postmodernist Land Art

Postmodernism is art that is interested in the natural world, in the textures, uneven surfaces, and the mysticism of that space ^[25]. Naturally, the pagan rituals of a spiritual space would be brought back into the forefront, where earthworks and manipulations of the natural landscape become more prevalent, this quickly was called Land Art ^[26]. Working through what Robert Smithson call to attention in Entropy in the New Monuments, where he states, “Visiting a museum is a matter of going from void to void. Instead of causing us to remember the past like the old monuments, the new monuments seem to cause us to forget the future. Nature does not proceed in a straight line, it is rather a sprawling development.” ^[27]

With a traditional critique of the work and some examples. Land Artworks to show the immensity of space, time, and the environment and to transport the viewer to a realm that rekindles the natural inside of all of us that constitutes our humanity ^[28]. We, however, are part of an ecosystem, and thusly are linked to nature and the mathematical principles of nature that make “math the universal language.” No matter how much we try and deny that nature and our place within it shape us as humans. Some of the most important works in Land Art are:

Spiral Jetty by land artist Robert Smithson, built from thousands of tons of basalt rock in the waters of the Great Salt Lake, Utah in 1970. It is a 1,500 feet long spiral coil of the earth that acts as meditation to the visitors of the confluence of earth and water, and our own construction. ^[29]

Lightning Field by Walter Da Maria is in a remote part of the New Mexico desert. It is composed of 400 stainless steel poles that are installed in a grid in one-mile by one-kilometer square. This sculpture, because of its size, can be walked through as well as viewed, and because of the unpredictability of nature is alive with energy. ^[30]

Surrounding Islands by Christos and Jeanne-Claude like much of their work astounds in concept, execution, and size, and deals with man’s imposing will on nature. Using effective boards, sketches, and thorough research the scale of these sculptures is truly impressive. ^[31]

A. Spotlight on artist Walter De Maria

The artist behind Lightning Field and many others is Walter De Maria. Born in Albany, California in 1935, De Maria became fascinated with the way in which we shape and are shaped by our surroundings. ^[32]

Land Art installations relate to my project in a number of ways, and the thoughts of the land artists have a great impact on my work for the aspects in with scale, time and space, and our connection and identity-forming from that is important ^[33] in which the viewer would experience my work virtually. I think the virtual space allows for precise manipulation of these sensory inputs to a place that becomes hyperreal, thus invoking a “dream state” not dissimilar to sensory deprivation ^[34] that happens with shamanistic practices, and extreme exposure to the elements. ^[35] 

IV. History of Monolithic Installation Work

Like Land Art, the history of Installation Art is in a time when messaging became more important than technique, and that texture, tone, and practice are all bound to how effective they are to connect with that messaging. Installation Art in the past few decades have specifically looked to engagement and a shared experience ^[36], something that is very powerful for delivering a message. 

The traditional critique of Installation art began to really gain a foothold in the early 20th century with the Dadaist ^[37]. Postmodernist was especially interested in the space in their work, a tableau of artifacts to represent the journey by the artist in its creation, and the hopeful shared the experience by its audience ^[38]. Especially during the riotous upheaval of the 1960s and 70s ^[39]. In this time the human form became the center of the installation with performance. Now, post-space-race the idea of a world unto its own is a key driving factor of work, and meditation on place, “experience, meditation and representation” ^[40] which is showcased in Eliasson’s work.

A. Spotlight on artist Olafur Eliasson

Olafur Eliasson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark ^[41], uses his installation work to focus on the viewer’s relationship with the work, “The person is the co-author of the narrative rather than a consumer of the reality.” ^[42]

This relates to my project because of the interest of the 3D space that is offered in the unreal engine and the level design pipeline offers an almost ideal way into which to incorporate shared space in my work. Ideally, the shared experience in the space can be easily accomplished in today’s world of internet lobbies.