Environmental Aesthetics and Land Art

Abstract

In this paper, the author reflects on the relationship between environmental aesthetics and land art. By considering their historical development, the author first addresses the terminology problem which prompted him to understand land art as a hypernym – i.e. a term that semantically encompasses other art practices (e.g. “Earth art”, “Earthworks”, “Site art”, “Arte Povera”, “Environment(al) art”, and “Ecological art”). Moreover, by considering certain features of land art (e.g. integration, interruption, involvement, implementation, and imagining), the author proposes a thesis according to which land art represents not only a contemporary art movement but also a new form of the aesthetic experience of nature. In the further development of this thesis, the author focuses on two aesthetic principles of land art – participation and entropy – which in the history of aesthetic theory have been almost non-existent, pushed to the margins, or completely neglected. Finally, by finding solid theoretical foundations for this thesis in Ronald W. Hepburn’s ground-breaking essay “Contemporary Aesthetics and the Neglect of Natural Beauty” (1984), as well as some land art projects (e.g. Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970), the author emphasises the strong theoretical connection between environmental aesthetics and land art.Autor u ovom radu promišlja odnos estetike okoliša i land arta. Razmatrajući njihov povijesni razvoj, autor najprije ističe terminološki problem koji ga je potaknuo da land art shvati kao hiperonim – odnosno pojam koji značenjski obuhvaća druge umjetničke prakse (npr. »Earth art«, »Earthworks«, »Site art«, »Arte Povera«, »Environment(al) art« i »Ecological art«). Štoviše, razmatrajući određene značajke land arta (npr. integraciju, prekid, uključenost, implementaciju i imaginaciju), autor predlaže tezu prema kojoj land art ne predstavlja samo suvremeni umjetnički pokret nego i novu formu estetskog doživljaja prirode. Autor se u daljnjem razvoju ove teze fokusira na dva estetska principa land arta – participaciju i entropiju – koji su u povijesti estetičke teorije bili gotovo nepostojeći, potisnuti na marginu ili u potpunosti zanemareni. Konačno, pronalaženjem čvrstih teorijskih temelja za ovu tezu u znamenitom eseju Ronalda W. Hepburna »Suvremena estetika i zanemarivanje prirodne ljepote« (1984.), kao i nekim land art projektima (npr. Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970.), autor ističe snažnu teorijsku povezanost estetike okoliša i land arta.