Site Specific Art: Taking Location into Account
Midterm Essay
Site-specific art is artwork created to exist in a certain place. Typically, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork. Outdoor site-specific artworks often include landscaping combined with permanently sited sculptural elements. Indoor site-specific artworks may be created with the architects of the building. The term is sometimes used for any work that is permanently attached to a particular location. One type of site-specific artwork is earthworks which involves actually manipulating the landscape on a large scale. This type of artwork is going to involve challenges that other artists will never encounter. Most paintings or drawings will be displayed in a climate controlled environment, they are usually small enough to be moved or stored without too much difficulty, and the materials used belong to the artist. Any work of art that is a part of the changing landscape of this planet is subject to those same processes and will not be a static work of art. Another consideration with earthworks is ownership of the site and the materials. A painter need only buy his canvas and paints or a potter his clay and glazes, but when your medium is the earth itself, permission must be granted from whoever owns the land. Care must also be taken to ensure no environmental damage is done.
One example of site-specific art would be The Ice Cube Project by Marco Evaristti. Off the coast of western Greenland, in an area filled by slow-moving ice floes and white icebergs, a blood red one stands out by design. Marco Evaristti used 3,000 liters of paint diluted with seawater to spray a small iceberg floating in the water for this project. This example of site-specific art is land art. The artist used the white glacier background and surroundings to draw the attention clearly to the iceberg painted red.
Another example of site-specific art would be the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Maya Ying Lin. Maya’s project was completed
Site-specific art is artwork created to exist in a certain place. Typically, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork. Outdoor site-specific artworks often include landscaping combined with permanently sited sculptural elements. Indoor site-specific artworks may be created with the architects of the building. The term is sometimes used for any work that is permanently attached to a particular location. One type of site-specific artwork is earthworks which involves actually manipulating the landscape on a large scale. This type of artwork is going to involve challenges that other artists will never encounter. Most paintings or drawings will be displayed in a climate controlled environment, they are usually small enough to be moved or stored without too much difficulty, and the materials used belong to the artist. Any work of art that is a part of the changing landscape of this planet is subject to those same processes and will not be a static work of art. Another consideration with earthworks is ownership of the site and the materials. A painter need only buy his canvas and paints or a potter his clay and glazes, but when your medium is the earth itself, permission must be granted from whoever owns the land. Care must also be taken to ensure no environmental damage is done.
One example of site-specific art would be The Ice Cube Project by Marco Evaristti. Off the coast of western Greenland, in an area filled by slow-moving ice floes and white icebergs, a blood red one stands out by design. Marco Evaristti used 3,000 liters of paint diluted with seawater to spray a small iceberg floating in the water for this project. This example of site-specific art is land art. The artist used the white glacier background and surroundings to draw the attention clearly to the iceberg painted red.
Another example of site-specific art would be the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Maya Ying Lin. Maya’s project was completed