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Three Land Art Exhibitions That Are Helping The Planet

Inspire

Land art becomes part of the landscape to capture our attention, and to give new meanings to natural spaces.

The relation between land art and the ecologic movement is narrow; especially because what it shows, what it features is Earth itself. Installations in uninhabited places suggest a way to perceive the natural landscape, almost always reminding the world that the primitive is a form of the future. We now present you with three installations that will undoubtedly survive, not simply physically, but also in the mind of the beholder.

Sun Tunnels, Utah

This installation, a creation by Nancy Holt, the land art pioneer, was finished in 1976 and can be found somewhere in Box Elder County, in the Utah desert. It is made up by 4 concrete pipes, 5 metres long and three metres wide, which were strategically pierced to frame celestial constellations and the sun during the summer and winter solstices.

Spiral Jetty, Utah

Built in 1970 at the bottom of Great Salt Lake in Utah, this piece only appears during periods of extreme draught (that has become increasingly common during the last decades). It was built with mud and basaltic rock, and is over 500 metres long. Its creator, Robert Smithson, helped stress the manner in which the world is quickly changing climatically, attracting attention to the increasing shortage of water around the world, while at the same time, imprinting endlessness in the piece of land it occupies.

Stellar Axis, New Mexico

The Stellar Tunnel is part of an elaborate sculpture and observatory, designed by Charles Ross in the New Mexico desert. This piece perfectly aligns you with the Earth’s axis; from there you can see the North Star directly in front of you. As is well known, this start has been the guiding star for many sailors and all those who have ever wondered about their position in the world’s archipelago. Whatever happens, the Stellar Tunnel will be there to tell us exactly where we stand.

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