Reflections

Going into this class I didn't really know what to expect and I certainly did not know the true meaning of earth art. To tell the truth I was actually scared because I know I'm not a very artsy person. Well over the past month I have learned two things: I'm definitely not an artsy person and the true meaning of earth art. I never imagined that earth art could actually be molded and created by man. I think this earth art class signifies the true reason that the Honors College offers these modules to students. Now that the class is just about over I feel like I am more well-rounded person because of the understanding I have gained about art. I appreciate Mr. Birchett making this a class where we did not have to worry about writing papers or studying for test, instead we focused on art and what it means. After seeing the work of various artists such as Goldsworthy and Mendieta I now understand that art is what the person perceives it to be and there is not a strict guideline to creating art.

Final Project..."Circles of Life"

Throughout this semester Mr. Birchett has repeatedly talked about time and how it is circular. When I started to think of my project and ideas ran through my head I kept going back to the idea of time and circles. Unfortunately, I’m not a very artsy person so it wasn’t quite as easy for me to figure out what to do, how to do it or even what it really means. This blog demonstrates my thought processes and how I made the project that I like to call “Circles of Life.”

Before I could begin the work I had to decide on a location to construct the art. As odd as it may seem I thought it would be appropriate to place the artwork in my own back yard. When you think about life and how it begins and ends most people think of their home or something pertaining to home.

To create the project I used four materials: leaves, grass, brick and sand. With my brother’s help we were able to create “Circles of Life” resembling the cycles of life. The following pictures show how the art was made and the final project from different viewpoints.

My brother, Zach, helped carry some of the materials and line up some of the circles.

I took this picture after I had created the circles with brick, but before I added the pathway, sand and burned leaves.

This picture was taken while the leaves were burning. I thought it looked pretty cool so I decided to add it!

"Circles of Life"

So what does “Circles of Life” represent? What is the importance of circles in earth art? First, I’ll explain my understanding of this piece of work. In this piece of art there are four circles outlined with brick, one large circle and three smaller circles. The larger circle represents the area or group that everyone is born into. No matter where you live, your race or your sex everyone belongs in this circle when they are born. Within this larger circle made of bricks there are three circles made of grass, burned leaves and sand. The live grass represents life while we are breathing. The burned leaves represent death and the sand represents how our bodies deteriorate after death and return to the earth. As you can see at three points around the larger circles there is a hole with a pathway leading to smaller circle. These smaller circles represent the lives of outstanding and evil people such as George Washington, Hitler and Marin Luther King Jr. The idea is that as you go through life in the larger circle you are presented with opportunities (holes in brick) that take you out (grass path) of this circle (life) and into a circle of your own where you will eventually return to the earth (sand).

This idea of the relationship between circles and life in artwork is not new. I think the root of this idea can be traced to feminism and how these views are represent in many pieces of earth art. According to Lucy Lippard the idea of women being an all mighty being may have began as early as 25,000 B.C. As history proves this idea relaxed over the past few hundred years; however, in the 1960s there was a new surge in feminism. Lippard also states that the earth is seen as a women’s body, which is obvious when a non-sex object is referred to as “she” instead of “he”. With the recent surge in earth art many artist have used circles to display women and life (life roots from women). For example, Susan Hiller’s “Eight” demonstrates a woman’s pregnancy using large circles and spheres.

So what does all this mean in relation to my work? Now that circles are commonly used to represent women and life I think it was completely appropriate to use different size circles and different materials to create these circles to create this work. As with any piece of artwork everyone may see “Circles of Life” differently, but I believe that all ideas can be traced back to life: the beginning, death, the end and the different paths that can be taken. Please post any ideas that you have about the work and what you think it represents!