Site-specific art is
artworkA work of art, artwork, art piece, or art object is an aesthetic item or artistic creation.The term "a work of art" can apply to:*an example of fine art, such as a painting or sculpture*a fine work of architecture or landscape design...
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 IrwinRobert Irwin is an American Installation artist. He lives and works in San Diego, California.-Beginnings:Robert Irwin was born in 1928 in Long Beach, California to Robert Irwin and Goldie Anderberg Irwin...
, but it was actually first used in the mid-1970s by young sculptors, such as
Patricia JohansonPatricia Johanson Patricia Johanson is known for her large-scale art projects that create aesthetic and practical habitats for humans and wildlife...
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Dennis Oppenheim, 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...
, 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 materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
elements (Site-specific art can be linked with
Environmental artThe term environmental art is used in two different contexts: it 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....
). Outdoor site-specific artworks can also include
danceDance is an 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 a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
s created especially for the site. 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 also be considered a piece of site-specific art.
Artists producing site-specific works include Sir Jacob Epstein,
Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
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David SmithDavid Roland Smith was an American Abstract Expressionist sculptor and painter, best known for creating large steel abstract geometric sculptures.-Biography:...
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Isaac WitkinIsaac Witkin, internationally renowned modern sculptor, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on 10 May 1936, and he died 23 April 2006. Witkin entered St Martin’s School of Art in London, in 1957. Studying under Sir Anthony Caro and alongside other luminaries in training such as Phillip King,...
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Anthony CaroSir Anthony Alfred Caro, OM, CBE is an English abstract sculptor whose work is characterised by assemblages of metal using 'found' industrial objects.-Background and early life:...
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Diego RiveraDiego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
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José Clemente OrozcoJosé Clemente Orozco was a Mexican social realist painter, who specialized in bold murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others...
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David Alfaro SiqueirosJosé David Alfaro Siqueiros was a social realist painter, known for his large murals in fresco that helped establish the Mexican Mural Renaissance, together with works by Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, and also a member of the Mexican Communist Party who participated in an...
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Richard HaasRichard John Haas is an American muralist who is best known for architectural murals and his use of the Trompe l'oeil style.-Works:...
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Alexander CalderAlexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
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Isamu Noguchiwas a prominent Japanese American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces,...
, Louise Nevelson,
Leonard BaskinLeonard Baskin was an American sculptor, book-illustrator, wood-engraver, printmaker, graphic artist, writer and teacher.-Life and work:...
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George SegalGeorge Segal was an American painter and sculptor associated with the Pop Art movement. He was presented with a National Medal of Arts in 1999.-Works:...
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Tom OtternessTom Otterness is an American sculptor whose works adorn parks, plazas, subway stations, libraries, courthouses and museums in New York---most notably in Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City and in the 14th Street/8th Avenue subway station---and other cities around the world...
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Roy LichtensteinRoy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement...
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Olafur EliassonOlafur Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic artist known for sculptures and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer’s experience. In 1995 he established Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin, a laboratory for spatial research...
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Sol LeWittSolomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....
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Dennis Oppenheim,
Max NeuhausAmerican musician Max Neuhaus was a percussionist and interpreter of contemporary music of the 1960s who moved on to become a pioneer in the field of sound art, a term he rejected but with which he is nonetheless associated...
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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....
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Andy GoldsworthyAndy Goldsworthy, OBE is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. He lives and works in Scotland.-Life and career:The son of F...
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Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeChristo and Jeanne-Claude were a married couple who created environmental works of art...
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Dan FlavinDan Flavin was an American minimalist artist famous for creating sculptural objects and installations from commercially available fluorescent light fixtures.-Early life and career:...
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Archie RandArchie Rand is an artist from Brooklyn, New York. Rand's work as a painter and muralist is displayed around the world, including in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Bibliothèque Nationale de...
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Richard SerraRichard Serra is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist known for working with large-scale assemblies of sheet metal. Serra was involved in the Process Art Movement.-Early life and education:...
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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...
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Michael HeizerMichael Heizer is a contemporary artist specializing primarily in large-scale sculptures and earth art .Heizer was born in Berkeley, California in 1944; and he attended the San Francisco Art Institute. Traveling to New York City in 1966, he began his career producing more conventional, small-scale...
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Patricia JohansonPatricia Johanson Patricia Johanson is known for her large-scale art projects that create aesthetic and practical habitats for humans and wildlife...
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James TurrellJames Turrell is an American artist primarily concerned with light and space. Turrell was a MacArthur Fellow in 1984. He is represented by The Pace Gallery in New York...
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Ana MendietaAna Mendieta was a Cuban American performance artist, sculptor, painter and video artist who is known for her "earth-body" art work....
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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...
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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...
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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:...
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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...
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Robert IrwinRobert Irwin is an American Installation artist. He lives and works in San Diego, California.-Beginnings:Robert Irwin was born in 1928 in Long Beach, California to Robert Irwin and Goldie Anderberg Irwin...
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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...
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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 centres, and replacing them with 'socially useful institutions'...
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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...
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Mark DivoMark Divo is a Luxembourgeois 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...
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Leonard van MunsterLeonard van Munster , is a Dutch contemporary artist making Site-specific and Subject-specific work.-Private room 02 - 2004-2006:...
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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...
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Sarah SzeSarah Sze is a contemporary artist who lives and works in New York City. Sze uses ordinary objects to create sculptures and site-specific installations.-Early life:Sze graduated Summa Cum Laude from Yale University in 1991...
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Stefano CagolStefano Cagol is an Italian contemporary artist living in Italy, Brussels and New York City. He works with video, photography and installation. The images in his photographic and video works are often turned upside down.-Life:...
and
Seth WulsinSeth Wulsin is an artist working primarily with space and light through large-scale, site-specific, ephemeral sculpture and drawing....
. In Geneva, Switzerland, the two Contemporary Art Funds of the City and the Canton (FMAC and FCAC) are looking forward to integrate art into the architecture and in the public space since 1980 . The Neons Parrallax was conceived specifically for the Plaine de Plainpalais whose perimeter, located at the heart of the City, the challenge of the artists invited was to transpose the advertising stakes of the commercial signs of the harbour in artistic messages.
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 a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s of the building. Choreographers who have made 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...
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Meredith MonkMeredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Since the 1960s, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records.-Life and work:Meredith Monk is primarily known for her...
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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:
Noémie LafranceNoémie Lafrance is a Canadian-born choreographer living and working in New York since 1994. She is known for making large-scale site-specific dance performances that uses the architecture of the city as settings for her work...
; Tom Pearson and Zach Morris of Third Rail Projects; Andrea Haenggi/AMDaT; Tamar Rogoff; Collage Dance Theatre; and Clarinda Mac Low, Paul Benny, Alejandra Mortorell of TRYST, and Genevieve Bernard of Voci Dance.
Site-specific performance art, site-specific visual art and interventions are commissioned for the annual
Infecting the CityHeld in Cape Town, South Africa Infecting the City is a public arts festival that is committed to making art freely available to everyone. The Festival hosts a range of different types of site-specific art, artistic interventions and performance art in the central part of the City. Each year the...
Festival in
Cape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa. The site-specific nature of the works allows artists to interrogate the contemporary and historic reality of the Central Business District and create work that allows the city's users to engage and interact with public spaces in new and memorable ways.
See also
- Digital art
Digital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process...
- Environmental art
The term environmental art is used in two different contexts: it 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....
- 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...
- Greenmuseum.org
Greenmuseum.org is a nonprofit online museum of environmental art. Since its launch in 2001, greenmuseum.org has become a 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 to visit and open 24...
(online museum of environmental art)
- 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...
- 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...
- Land Arts of the American West
Land Arts of the American West is a studio-based field program that seeks to construct an expanded definition of land art through direct experience connecting the full range of human interventions in the landscape—from pre-contact indigenous to contemporary practice...
- 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...
(derogatory term opposed to site-specific art)
- Aerial dance
-Aerial dance:Aerial modern dance is a sub-genre of modern dance first recognized in the United States in the 1970s. The choreography incorporates an apparatus often attached to the ceiling, allowing performers to explore space in three-dimensions...
- Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
External links