A Different Lens for the Earthworks Experience

Abstract

The Earthworks movement of the 1960s and 70s challenged the conceptual art world by transforming nature into a gallery space. Land artists manipulate existing landscapes, using nature as a medium, to create large-scale works bound to their sites. Both critics and artists have stressed the experiential nature of such work, and as a result the dominant process for viewing these installations is to visit them in-person. Through an analyis of land artist Nancy Holt’s photographic piece titled Sunlight in Sun Tunnels, this paper reconsiders the most effective method in which viewers interact with Earthworks. Analysis of Holt’s work reveals the ways in which the medium of photography alters the Earthworks experience, and proposes its use as a more powerful alternative to traditional means of viewing.