ART 209 Environmental Art

Many of us might have learned about Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty project from a pilot pointing it out while flying to the West Coast. But how many of us know about projects that seek to improve the environment such as the Joseph Beuys 7000 Oaks project?

In this course students will make art through the lens of visual culture connected to issues of ecology and climate change. In-class study of local ecosystems, human impact on the environment and engagement with nature from an artist’s point of view will be the inspirations for artworks. Artworks will be made in a variety of mediums from natural material sculpture, installation, video and photography to performance. Students from a range of disciplines are welcome and encouraged to join the course for a diversity of skills and opinions. Two two-hour-and-forty-minute meetings per week.