Introduction
Site specific art is a particular form of art that deals with particular location in which this or that piece of art will be on its place as seen by the artist: “Site-specificity, then, can be understood in terms of this process, while a “site-specific work” might articulate and define itself through properties, qualities or meanings produced in specific relations between an “object” or “event” and a position it occupies.” (Kaye, 3) Drawing from this, when a place where a piece of such an art is located becomes necessary for some other purpose, this artistic work is destined to be destroyed, and pictures or photos become the only way for art lovers to enjoy their beauty (Known, 2004). This paper will focus on this aspect of site-specific art exemplified by works by Lloyd Hamrol, Andy Goldsworthy and Athena Tatcha.
Lloyd Hamrol and Woven Cone
Lloyd Hamrol is a famous artist and naturalist representing the site-specific art in its beauty. The work of his under consideration was created in 1973 in CalArts campus, Valencia, CA as an expression of the originality of the author’s thinking and resembled a cone, after which it took its name – Woven Cone. This piece of art was the result of the Environmental Workshop Class that Hamrol taught in CalArts, and the process of its creation involved his students and friends: “We spent the better part of the day going through his woods, finding the saplings and cutting them down. We stuffed the truck full and brought them back here to the Super Shop and started skinning the trees outside.” (Chan, 2008) But the severe termite infestation made the faculty of the CalArts demolish the work as it was no longer a piece of art but a danger to other objects on the campus. Nowadays, photos of the Woven Cone are the only memories that have left from the times when this perfect work decorated the campus of CalArts. Lloyd Hamrol visited the campus before the demolishing of his work and behaved pretty enthusiastic while talking about the work and about the future nostalgia for the Cone and about his love for the piece of art: “No one would know if you were in there – it wasn’t possible to see in it very easily. You could observe the life around you in a kind of voyeuristic fantasy” (Chan, 2008)
Andy Goldsworthy and the Neuberger Cairn
Another work under consideration is the masterpiece by Andy Goldsworthy who is famous as an environmentalist and a sculpture creating his works on the natural sites, i. e. a site-specific artist (Malpas, 2003). One of the most impressive works of his is the so called Neuberger Cairn created in 2001. This piece of work, as well as all others, is photographed by the artist after he finished it. It allows him to preserve the memory about his piece of art as long as possible even if the natural setting made it impossible to preserve the work itself (Malpas, 2008). Thus, the Neuberger Cairn was created as a means of expressing the “transient, or ephemeral” (Morning Earth, 2008) character of nature and the possibility for human beings to collaborate with it: “I enjoy the freedom of just using my hands and “found” tools–a sharp stone, the quill of a feather, thorns. I take the opportunities each day offers: if it is snowing, I work with snow, at leaf-fall it will be with leaves; a blown-over tree becomes a source of twigs and branches. I stop at a place or pick up a material because I feel that there is something to be discovered. Here is where I can learn.” (Morning Earth, 2008) Not surprisingly, the work by Andy Goldsworthy does not exist already as natural conditions damaged it seriously, but the photo allows the viewers and author himself to still enjoy the beauty of that piece of art as if they watch it directly under the blue sky.
Bibliography
Chan, A. 2008, Lloyd Hamrol interview on Afterall Online. Web.
Kaye, N. 2000, Site Specific Art: Performance, Place and Documentation, Routledge, London.
Known, M. 2004, One Place After Another: Site-specific Art and Locational Identity, MIT Press; New edition.
Malpas, William. 2003, Andy Goldsworthy in Close-Up. Maidstone, Kent: Crescent Moon.
Malpas, William (2008). Andy Goldsworthy: Pocket Guide. Maidstone, Kent: Crescent Moon.
Morning Earth. 2008, Andy Goldsworthy. Web.