1. Environmental Art HUMA 101: Introduction to Humanities
Heartland Community College
Instructor: Sharon Migotsky

2. What is Environmental Art?
While there is no one “correct” or “accepted” definition, there are several types of art that we might classify as “Environmental Art.”

3. 5 Categories of Environmental Art:
Art that is in the environment
Art that is of the environment
Art that creates an environment
Art that interacts with the environment
Art that is about the environment

4. Category One: Art that is in the environment
This category includes many public works of art, such as sculptures and memorials that are displayed outdoors.
It’s important to note, though, that being located outdoors doesn’t automatically make a work an example of environmental art.

5. Many memorials are located outdoors to be accessible to the population, and to serve as constant reminders.
These artworks may be located outdoors, but the environment itself plays no part in its message.

6. A good example of this would be the Vietnam Women’s Memorial on page 143 of the book.
While this memorial has a powerful message that is enhanced by being on public view, the outdoor location is not an integral part of the work. It would be just as meaningful if viewed in an indoor setting.

7. Other works of public art, however, use the environmental art surrounding them as part of the artistic message.
It would be difficult to imagine how certain sculptures and memorials could be located anywhere but in the specific environmental setting they were designed for.

8. A good example of this would be Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial on page 143 of the book. Lin’s stark black granite wall is part of the landscape, and the landscape is part of Lin’s message.
It is difficult to imagine this work of art in any other setting; the environmental setting increases the powerful impact of Lin’s design.

9. Category Two: Art that is of the environment
This category includes artwork that is actually made of the natural environment, or art that has become part of the environment.
This type of art is also sometimes called land art or earth sculpture.
The most famous example of art in this category would be Mount Rushmore.

10. Spiral Jetty, by Robert Smithson, is another example.

11. Environmental art in this category is usually meant to emphasize the eternal, rather than the momentary or transient.
However, not all works in this category are lasting, or even good for the environment.
For example, Smithson’s Spiral Jetty caused a great deal of erosion to its setting, and eventually eroded as well.

12. Category Three: Art that creates an environment
Works in this category create an environment either through their existence, or through the interaction of the audience.

13. For example, some sculptures and other types of art are large enough to enter. These works become their own environment—and viewers who see or enter the work become part of that environment.

14. Environmental art that creates its own environment does so as a specific commentary on the boundaries of art.
Architecture wouldn’t count as an example of this type of environmental art, since architecture is meant to be entered.
Environmental art that creates its own environment is also called installation art.

15. This category also includes works of art that create an environment through interaction with the audience.
For these artists, the moment and action of the interaction is a large part of the work of art: the artwork is both the piece and the performance.

16. An example of this type of art is She, by Mark Di Suervo
An example of this type of art is She, by Mark Di Suervo. In this work, the viewer is meant to sit on a certain part of the sculpture. The balance point of this sculpture shifts when the viewer is seated; the different sizes and weights of various viewers will make the sculpture move differently for each one.
Our book refers to this type of interactive art as machine sculpture. It’s also sometimes called kinetic sculpture.

17. Category Four: Art that interacts with the environment
This category includes art which is designed to interact not with the audience, but with the environment itself.
As with the preceding example, this type of environmental art focuses on that momentary interaction as an integral part of the art itself.

18. This category also includes works of art that create an environment through interaction with the audience.
For these artists, the moment and action of the interaction is a large part of the work of art: the artwork is both the piece and the performance.

19. An example of this would be Sun Tunnels, by Nancy Holt. (
An example of this would be Sun Tunnels, by Nancy Holt. (*By the way…Smithson and Holt were married.)

20. Each of the concrete tubes is oriented to the rising and setting sun of the winter and summer solstices; holes in the tubes cast patterns of light during the day to correspond with the patterns of various constellations.

21. Category Five: Art that is about the environment
This is perhaps the newest category of environmental art, stemming from the environmental movement itself.

22. Works in this category try to reclaim or make a statement about the state of the environment—usually in the environment itself.
This type of environmental art is a process, and that process is both the statement and the art.

23. This category also includes works of art that create an environment through interaction with the audience.
For these artists, the moment and action of the interaction is a large part of the work of art: the artwork is both the piece and the performance.

24. An example of this is Mel Chin’s Revival Field
An example of this is Mel Chin’s Revival Field. This project is designed to remove contaminants from plant life. The site symbolizes the four corners of the earth, and the leaves show nature’s purity.

25. While this category most often makes a statement about the physical environment, it often considers the social and cultural environment, as well.
In fact, one of the primary “messages” of this category is that all our environments—and therefore, all our destinies—are intertwined.
Art in this category is also called eco-art, enviro-art, or reclamation art.

26. Remember:
As with all art, the categories of environmental art can be blurred. Many works of environmental art can fit into more than one category—as well as fitting into more traditional genres of art, as well.
And some environmental art resists any categorization.

27. What’s most important is to recognize the diversity of different types and statements of environmental art.

28. The End