8 Seminal Examples of Land Art and Where to See Them

In the 1960s, the art world was shaken by the appearance of conceptual art, a new art movement that shifted the focus from visual aspects of an artwork to the idea behind it. Among the various manifestations of this new art was also land art, earthworks, or earth art, as it is also called.

Featured image: Richard Long – The Houghton Cross at Houghton Hall, 2017. Copyright Richard Humphrey

Land art examples appeared in various places, as artists discovered the possibility to use earth materials and location as expressive aspects of their work. They challenged the size, material, and temporal existence of art and experimented with more extensive and often ephemeral forms to establish a new framework for art beyond the white walls of galleries and museums, using earth, sand, and other natural materials.

As a response to an increasingly commercialized art world, land art artists went to the great outdoors. Their earthworks were often large-scale, made through the remodeling of a landscape or by using materials from nature to create sculptures and situate them in the natural environment. Variations developed from land art over the years, such as environmental art and ecological art. 

Some artists used mechanical equipment to create their works; this was usually when large amounts of earth and rocks were moved, while others used their bodies as the only tool. American artist Richard Long, for example, would walk up and down on a stretch of land until he would leave the marks of his walking. Artist Robert Smithson, on the other hand, had to use machinery to move rocks for his design, creating a spiral movement out of them.

Land art also questions the premise of the permanence of art. Many of the land art works have been lost over time. Others decayed, as nature from which they were created changed. In the list below, we bring you some of the most remarkable examples of land art which enduredand locations where to see them.

Featured image: Michael Heizer – Double Negative, 1969. Captions, via Creative Commons 

Michael Heizer, Double Negative, 1969

Michael Heizer‘s land art Double Negative consists of two trenches cut into the Mormon Mesa. The trenches are located one across another and are 1,500 feet (457 meters) long, 30 feet (9.1 meters) wide, and 50 feet (15.2 meters) deep. It is reported that around 240,000 tonnes of rock were removed during the construction of the trenches.

The work is one of a few still existing examples of land art and is also among the first works of this type of art that were created. It opens important questions about the size of art, sculpture, and the role of an artist. While this art is not possible to transfer to a museum or gallery, except through photos, it is also a work created through subtraction. The creative process understands the removal of land instead of adding something new.

There is nothing there, yet it is still a sculpture.

This statement by Heizer also shows the dilemmas surrounding this work. However, its importance is indisputable, as confirmed by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, who bought the piece for its collection.

Double Negative is located in the Moapa Valley on Mormon Mesa near Overton, Nevada.

Featured image: Robert Smithson – Spiral Jetty, 1970. Captions, via Creative Commons

Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970

Over six thousand tons of natural black basalt rocks were used, together with earth from the Great Salt Lake site, to create Spiral Jetty. The seminal work of land art by artist Robert Smithson, it is 1500 feet (457 meters) long and 15 feet (4,5 meters) wide. The work is simple; it coils counterclockwise from the shore and enters the water in a spiraling movement. 

Smithson described museums as mausoleums for art and decided to create his works in a natural environment. The Spiral Jetty was made in six days and is still available to view at its location, although slightly changed in color from environmental effects.

Spiral Jetty is located at the site of Rozel Point peninsula landscape on the northeastern shore of Great Salt Lake, Utah.

Featured image: Charles Ross – Star Axis, 1971. Captions, via Creative Commons

Charles Ross, Star Axis, 1971

Built from granite, bronze, earth, stainless steel, and sandstone, Star Axis project combines architectonic sculpture and a naked-eye observatory. Artist Charles Ross came up with the idea in 1971, and after a few years of searching for the right spot, the building started in 1976.

Star Axis was created with the geometry of the stars and in mind, following their movement and orientation through time. The earth-to-star alignment determines its design, its shapes and angles, and makes it a unique earthwork that engages with planetary motions and our own world. 

The location of Star Axis is the New Mexico desert. 

Featured image: Walter De Maria – The Lightning Field, 1977, via WalterDeMaria

Walter De Maria, The Lightning Field, 1977

Made of stainless steel poles, The Lightning Field is another land art piece situated in New Mexico. The work was created on the area covering one kilometer, and the poles are arranged in a grid at regular distances from each other.

Walter De Maria developed the idea for this piece following a similar impulse as his colleagues; to escape the limitations of galleries and explore the possibilities nature offers for art. The piece can be fully experienced by spending a more extended time in the field. It is among De Maria’s works created to be viewed but also walked in.

The Lighting Field is situated near Quemado, New Mexico.

Featured image: Nancy Holt – Sun Tunnels, 1973–76. Caption via pixabay

Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels, 1973–76

Nancy Holt brought cosmos with its constellations of stars and planets closer to human experience with her work titled Sun Tunnels. This finest example of land art consists of four concrete tubes, large enough so a person can enter them and perforated with holes.

The structures, four in all, are positioned to frame the sun during rising and setting on the days of the winter and summer solstices. The perforations cast projections of Draco, Perseus, Columba, and Capricorn constellations.

The idea for Sun Tunnels became clearer to me while I was in the desert watching the sun rising and setting, keeping the time of the earth. Sun Tunnels can exist only in that particular place—the work evolved out of its site.

Sun Tunnels are located in a remote valley of the Great Basin Desert in Utah.

Featured image: Marinus Boezem – The Green Cathedral, 1987. Captions, via Creative Commons

Marinus Boezem, The Green Cathedral, 1987

A living piece of land art made from poplars by Marinus Boezem replicates in size and shape the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Reims, France. The Green Cathedral, as it is named, consists of 178 planted poplars that are around 100 feet (30 meters) high, 500 feet (152 meters) long, and 246 feet (78 meters) wide.

Over the years, the place grew popular for various social gatherings, and some trees were replaced due to deer damaging.

The Green Cathedral is located near Almere in the Netherlands.

Feature image: Maya Lin – Storm King Wavefield, 2009, via Marius Watz

Maya Lin, Storm King Wavefield, 2009

The immersive land art installation by Maya Lin replicates the waves and creates a similar visual effect of being lost among the undulating forms. Titled Storm King Wavefield, it consists of seven rows of rolling waves made of earth and grass. The height of the waves is between 10 and 15 feet (3-4 meters) and at a distance of 40 feet (12 meters).

Lin explores the forms from nature, specifically waves, that she tries to recreate in other, more permanent materials. The close observation and measurement of waves are transposed in this work of green earth waves.

Storm King Wavefield is located at the southwest edge of Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, NY.

Ugo Rondinone, Seven Magic Mountains, 2016

Seven Magic Mountains of the famous Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone comprise colorful stacked boulders around 30 feet ( 9 meters) high. Situated in the desert landscape, the work is a vibrant reminder of human presence and punctuates the landscape with its forms and color.

The work was produced for the Nevada Museum of Art and was opened in 2016. Currently, it has a permit to remain on site until the end of 2021.

Seven Magic Mountains are located near Jean Dry Lake, south of Las Vegas, Nevada.