Site-specific art is
artworkA work of art, artwork, work or art object is a creation, such as an art object, design, architectural piece, musical work, literary composition, performance, film, conceptual art piece, or even computer program that is made and or valued primarily for an "artistic" rather than practical function...
created to exist in a certain place. Typically, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork. The actual term was promoted and refined by Californian artist Robert Irwin, but it was actually first used in the mid-1970s by young sculptors, such as Lloyd Hamrol and
Athena TachaAthena Tacha , is best known in the fields of environmental public sculpture and conceptual art, but has also worked extensively in photography, film and artists’ books.- Early life, education, and academic career :...
, who had started executing public commissions for large urban sites (see Peter Frank, “Site Sculpture”, Art News, Oct.
Site-specific art is
artworkA work of art, artwork, work or art object is a creation, such as an art object, design, architectural piece, musical work, literary composition, performance, film, conceptual art piece, or even computer program that is made and or valued primarily for an "artistic" rather than practical function...
created to exist in a certain place. Typically, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork. The actual term was promoted and refined by Californian artist Robert Irwin, but it was actually first used in the mid-1970s by young sculptors, such as Lloyd Hamrol and
Athena TachaAthena Tacha , is best known in the fields of environmental public sculpture and conceptual art, but has also worked extensively in photography, film and artists’ books.- Early life, education, and academic career :...
, who had started executing public commissions for large urban sites (see Peter Frank, “Site Sculpture”, Art News, Oct. 1975). Site specific environmental art was first described as a movement by architectural critic Catherine Howett (“New Directions in Environmental Art,” Landscape Architecture, Jan. 1977) and art critic Lucy Lippard (“Art Outdoors, In and Out of the Public Domain,” Studio International, March-April 1977).
Outdoor site-specific artworks often include
landscapingLandscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...
combined with permanently sited
sculpturalSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
elements (the movement is linked with
Environmental art). Outdoor site-specific artworks also include
danceDance is a sport and art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
performanceA performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people behave in a particular way for another group of people . Sometimes the dividing line between performer and the audience may become blurred, as in the example of "participatory theatre" where audience...
s created especially for the site.
Site-specific dance is also created to exist in a certain place. The choreography is generated through research and interpretation of the site’s unique cultural matrix of characteristics and topographies, whether architectural, historical, social and/or environmental; discovering the hidden meaning in a space and developing methods to amplify it. Some artists make a point of commissioning music created by a local composer especially for the dance site. Indoor site-specific artworks may be created in conjunction with (or indeed by) the
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
s of the building.
More broadly, the term is sometimes used for any work that is (more or less) permanently attached to a particular location. In this sense, a building with interesting architecture could be considered a piece of site-specific art. Artists producing site-specific works include
Robert SmithsonRobert Smithson was an American artist famous for his land art.-Background and education:Smithson was born in Passaic, New Jersey and studied painting and drawing in New York City at the Art Students League of New York....
,
Andy GoldsworthyAndy Goldsworthy is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist living in Scotland who produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. His art involves the use of natural and found objects, to create both temporary and permanent sculptures which draw...
, Christo,
Dan FlavinDan Flavin was an American minimalist artist famous for creating sculptural objects and installations from commercially available fluorescent light fixtures.-Education:...
,
Richard SerraRichard Serra is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist known for working with large-scale assemblies of sheet metal...
,
Olga KisselevaOlga Kisseleva is a Russian artist. Olga Kisseleva works mainly in installation, science and media art. Her work employs various media, including video, immersive virtual reality, the Web, wireless technology, performance, large-scale art installations and interactive exhibitions.- Biography :As...
, Patricia Johanson,
Athena TachaAthena Tacha , is best known in the fields of environmental public sculpture and conceptual art, but has also worked extensively in photography, film and artists’ books.- Early life, education, and academic career :...
,
Alice AdamsAlice Adams is an American artist known for her sculpture and site specific land art in the 1970s and since 1986 for her major public art projects in transit systems, airports, university campuses and other urban sites throughout the United States...
, Mary Miss, Jackie Ferrara,
Nancy HoltNancy Holt is an American artist famous for her public sculpture, installation art and land art. Throughout her career, Holt has also produced works in other mediums, including film, photography, and writing artist’s books.-Biography:...
,
Rowan GillespieRowan Fergus Meredith Gillespie is an Irish bronze casting sculptor of international renown. Born in Dublin to Irish parents, Gillespie spent his formative years in Cyprus...
,
Marian ZazeelaMarian Zazeela is a light-artist, designer, painter and musician based in New York City.-Life and Work:Born to Russian-Jewish parents and raised in the Bronx, Marian Zazeela was educated at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and at Bennington College where she...
,
Guillaume BijlGuillaume Bijl, born in Antwerp in 1946, is a Belgian installation artist.Bijl's first installation was a driving school, set in a gallery-space in Antwerp in 1979, accompanied by a manifesto calling for the abolition of art centers, and replacing them with 'socially useful institutions'...
,
Betty BeaumontArtist Betty Beaumont lives and works in New York City, New York. Beaumont is now a U. S. Citizen. She works in the field of environmental art, creating installations out of waste products.-Life and work:...
and younger artists like
Eberhard BossletEberhard Bosslet is a German contemporary artist who has been producing site-specific art and architectural-related works, such as sculpture, installation and painting, both indoors and outdoors, since 1979...
,
Mark DivoMark Divo is a Luxemburgeois conceptual artist and curator who organises large scale interactive art projects incorporating the work of a number of well-known underground artists. His own work involves performance, photography, installation, often using found material.-Career:Between 1988 and 1989...
, John K. Melvin,
Leonard van MunsterLeonard van Munster , is a Dutch contemporary artist making Site-specific and Subject-specific work.-Private room 02 - 2004-2006:...
,
Luna NeraLuna Nera is a collaborative group of international artists who make site-specific artworks. Members of Luna Nera have exhibited in a number of venues ranging from disused buildings to Tate Britain....
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SimparchSIMPARCH is an American artist collective that was founded in Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1996. Presently this group is organized and maintained by Matthew Lynch and Steve Badgett...
,
Sarah SzeSarah Sze is an American artist and sculptor based in New York and Cambridge. She received her high school diploma from Milton Academy, her bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1991 and her MFA from New York's School of Visual Arts in 1997....
,
Stefano CagolStefano Cagol is an Italian contemporary artist. He works with video, photography and installation. The images in his photographic and video works are often turned upside down....
and
Seth WulsinSeth Wulsin was born in Spring Valley, New York. He studied briefly at Yale University, before withdrawing to play music with friend and guitarist Solomon Silber. Between 2003 and 2005 he worked with the sculptor Ray King, helping to fabricate and install his large-scale public works...
. Choreographers who have made important site-specific contributions to the field of dance include
Trisha BrownTrisha Brown is a postmodernist American choreographer and dancer.Brown was born in Aberdeen, Washington, and received a B.A. degree in dance from Mills College in 1958. Brown later received a D.F.A. from Bates College in 2000. For several summers she studied with Louis Horst at the American Dance...
,
Meredith MonkMeredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, film-maker, and choreographer...
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Ann CarlsonAnn Carlson is an American dancer, choreographer and performance artist whose work explores contemporary social issues. She has performed through the United States an internationally and has won a number of awards....
, Stephan Koplowitz, Joanna Haigood, among others. Contemporary choreographers working primarily in site-specific dance include: Noemie LaFrance; Tom Pearson and Zach Morris of Third Rail Projects; Andrea Haenggi/AMDaT; Tamar Rogoff; Collage Dance Theatre; and Clarinda Mac Low, Paul Benny, and Alejandra Mortorell of TRYST.
Museums/Organizations/Venues
- Landmarks Contemporary Projects
- Karriere Bar
Karriere Bar is a bar and restaurant in the Meatpacking District of Copenhagen, Denmark, co-founded by Berlin-based, Danish artist Jeppe Hein in 2007. The establishment features interactive and Site-specific art by various international artists. Co-founded by Danish artist Jeppe Hein, it opened in...
See also
- Environmental sculpture
The term environmental sculpture is variously defined. A development of the art of the 20th century, environmental sculpture usually creates or alters the environment for the viewer, as opposed to presenting itself figurally or monumentally before the viewer...
- Land art
Land art, Earthworks, or Earth art is an art movement which emerged in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked. Sculptures are not placed in the landscape; rather the landscape is the very means of their creation...
- Environmental art
The term Environmental Art is used in two different senses.The term can be used generally to refer to art dealing with ecological issues and/or the natural, such as the formal, the political, the historical, or the social context....
- Digital art
Digital art is an umbrella term for a range of artistic works and practices that exploit digital technology. Since the 1970s various names have been used to describe what is now called digital art including computer art and multimedia art but digital art is itself placed under the larger umbrella...
- greenmuseum.org
Greenmuseum.org is a nonprofit online museum of environmental art. Since its launch in 2001, greenmuseum.org has established itself as a leading source for information about this global art movement, which includes eco-art , land art, art in nature and related terms.As an online museum it is free...
(online museum of environmental art)
- Plop art
Plop art is a pejorative slang term for public art made for government or corporate plazas, spaces in front of office buildings, skyscraper atriums, parks, and other public venues. The term connotes that the work is unattractive or inappropriate to its surroundings - that is, it has been...
(derogatory term opposed to site-specific art)
External links