Land & Environmental Art ARTS 3004/4004 provides a survey of art practices related to the land and environment. These terms are used very broadly and will be explored dialogically, along with hands-on projects in the studio and outdoors. Focusing on themes of site, environment, landforms, weather, climate and earth materials, students will design and realize a number of new artworks. In this course you will complete 3 creative projects and engage in discussion and critique of each of those projects. You will give presentations and also submit a final portfolio at the end of the semester.
Course Text:
Land and Environmental Art by Jeffrey Kastner and Brian Wallis (Themes and Movements, Phaidon Press)
Required Materials:
Sketchbook / Field-Research Notebook
Camera, phone-cam, drawing materials you like
Suggested Texts:
Art and Ecology Now by Andrew Brown (Thames and Hudson, 2014)Art Nature Dialogues by Grande
Undermining: A Wild Ride Through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West by Lucy R. Lippard (The New Press, 2014)
Anthropocene Poetics by Farrier
Eco-Aesthetics by Malcolm Miles
Natures Palette by Baty
SPRING 2026 COURSE SCHEDULE
VAC STUDIO 277 is available for you to work in anytime that there is not another class in session. You are also given storage space for your materials on the shelving in 277. For Lectures and discussion we will meet in 287.
WEEK ONE
January 12 Course Introduction
M12 STUDIO - Research a project and come with 1 question for Wednesday
Jan 14 PRESENTATIONS: 1. Where do you consider home, where do you come from (locational or spiritual)?
2. Why are you taking this class?
3. Your Academic Major at CU-Boulder and goals for future
4. artists and artwork that you are interested in
5. Some examples of your artwork with descriptions
6. A few goals for the semester
Reading Due: What’s Next by Linda Weintraub (materials list), Words on the Environment by Friedman, ed. Alan Sonfist
Warner’s Nomenclature of Color * Keep this reading handy or even print parts of it for your sketchbooks
Lockers / Toolboxes
WEEK TWO
January 19 No Class MLK Day
January 21 Project 1 - Earth Materials / Integration
Due: Watch, Cave of Forgotten Dreams by Werner Herzog
Yoko Ono: One Woman Show , 8 Instruction Pieces
Begin making lists, experiments and collections of earth materials in sketchbook
(ideas: blueberries, honey, soil, tumeric, grass, water)
Lecture/Discussion: Earth Materials / Integration
Weekend Field Trip: Pioneer Landscape Center 6379 Valmont Rd, Boulder, CO 80301
WEEK THREE
January 26 Project 1 - Earth Materials / Integration
Outdoor Workday
January 28 Project 1: Earth Materials / Integration
Studio Work Day - bring as many materials as you can - those that interest you, things you’ve made.
Secure your spaces for critique!
WEEK FOUR
February 2 Project 1: Earth Materials / Integration
Studio Work Day
Secure your spaces for critique!
February 4 Project 1: Earth Materials / Integration
Studio Work Day
WEEK FIVE
February 9 Project 1: Earth Materials/Integration Critique
February 11 Project 1: Earth Materials/Integration Critique
Weekend Watch:
Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art - On Kanopy - Sign in through your CU ID.
Levitated Mass: The Story of Michael Heizer’s Monolythic Sculpture - On Kanopy - Sign in through your CU ID.
WEEK SIX
February 16 No Studio / Richard Away
February 18 Project 2: Site / Non-Site
Reading Due: Theory of Non-Sites by Fusco Luccarelli,
The Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey by Robert Smithson
A New Generation of Land Artists by Dozier
Eco-Artists Sounds of Life by KEF
WEEK SEVEN
February 23 Project 2: Site / Non-Site
Reading Due: The Art of Michael Heizer from Artforum December 1969, Rosie Flanagan A Monument to Outlast Humanity by Goodyear
Discussion: The Land Art Phenomenon: Michael Heizer - Hero or Villain?
Studio Work Day
February 25 USGS Earth Materials Library Field Trip
WEEK EIGHT
March 2 Project 2 - Site / Non-Site
Studio Work Day
March 4 Project 2 - Site / Non-Site
Studio Work Day
WEEK NINE
March 9 Project 2 - Site / Non-Site / Horizon Photo Sculpture
Studio Work Day
March 11 Project 2 - Site / Non-Site / Horizon Photo Sculpture
Studio Work Day
WEEK TEN
March 16 Critique Project 2 - Site / Non-Site
March 18 Critique Project 2 - Site / Non-Site
WEEK ELEVEN
March 23 Spring Break - No Class
March 25 Spring Break - No Class
WEEK TWELVE
March 30 Reading: Readings Due: Land Art in the Rearview Mirror by Lucy R. Lippard,
Hamish Fulton Ana Mandieta, American Performing and Media Artist, Staying Alive: Women Ecology and Survival in India and Eco-Feminism by Vandana Shiva, Weather Report Catalog
Lecture: Project 3: Involvement
April 1 Project 3: Involvement: Solutions & Speculations
Readings Due: Anthropogenesis: Origins and Endings in the Anthropocene by Kathryn Yusoff
Agnes Denes: Another Confrontation
Art in Action Artists Profiles: Bernie Krause, Simon Norfolk, Amy Young, Mel Chin, Patricia Johansson, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Cai Guo-Quing, Icelandic Love Corporation, Juane Quick-to-See Smith, Post-Commodity
Lecture: Project 3: Involvement: Solutions & Speculations
WEEK THIRTEEN
April 06 Project 3: Involvement: Solutions & Speculations
Studio Work Day
April 08 Outdoor Self-Guided Walk / Hike NCAR - Table Mesa Trail, Devil’s Thumb Trail, Interpretative Signage
WEEK FOURTEEN
April 13 Project 3: Involvement: Solutions & Speculations
Work Day
April 15 Project 3: Involvement: Solutions & Speculations
Work Day
WEEK FIFTEEN
April 20 Critique Project 3 - Involvement: Solutions & Speculations — Digital Presentations of Projects 287
April 22 Critique Project 3 - Involvement: Solutions & Speculations — Digital Presentations of Projects 287
WEEK SIXTEEN
April 27 FINAL PORTFOLIOS DUE BY 5PM