Art & Environment: an introduction to earthworks

An introduction to the Earthworks movement, this lecture introduces its history through two key artworks Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty (1970) and Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels (1974).

This talk introduces the history behind the earthworks movement of the 1970s and its connection to other art movements of its time. We go in-depth with Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty (1970), 450m of sculpted earth from the Great Salt Lake in Utah and Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels (1974), which touches upon the traditions of ancient earthworks, ‘Skywatching’ of First Nations People of North America and astrophysics. The purpose is to provide an general understanding of the movement while also allowing us to think about how art can help us explore our contemporary relationship to nature.