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Incorporating the Critical: Environmental Art's Vitality

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Incorporating the Critical: Environmental Art's Vitality INCORPORATING THE CRITICAL: ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S VITALITY IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE by ALLEN PRATT (Under the Direction of Katherine Melcher) ABSTRACT The realms of art and landscape architecture are inherently in a state of overlap, juxtaposition, and reference of one another. This suggests art’s importance in the development and understanding of landscape architecture. This thesis examined environmental art’s potential to be used as an explorative design process to generate new ideas and perspectives. It used a series of environmental art case studies, including the author’s own installation in the Founders Memorial Garden, to investigate environmental art’s value to the study and practice of contemporary landscape architecture. This study revealed that the boundaries between the spatial disciplines of art, architecture, and landscape architecture are artificial and that these boundaries can be dissolved in practice. It concluded that environmental art possesses the ability to alter perceptions of space and place, generate new ideas and perspectives, and enhance the human condition to address issues of site, sight, and insight. INDEX WORDS: landscape architecture, environmental art, land art, contemporary art, site- specific art, Monet, El Lissitzky, The Garden of the Lost Steps, Mirror Lab, Tree Drawings, Red Ball Project, Founders Memorial Garden, adaptive design, integrative design, design research INCORPORATING THE CRITICAL: ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S VITALITY IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE by ALLEN PRATT Bachelor of Architecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2012 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2014 © 2014 Allen Pratt All Rights Reserved INCORPORATING THE CRITICAL: ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S VITALITY IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE by ALLEN PRATT Major Professor: Katherine Melcher Committee: Marianne Cramer Tad Gloeckler Maureen O’Brien Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2014 DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my family and friends who have supported me to develop and act upon my ideas and professional pursuits. In particular, this thesis is dedicated to my loving fiancé, Laura, for her unconditional support and assistance throughout this entire process. It has been quite an adventure, and I look forward to many more (hopefully more fun) adventures with you. A secondary shout out goes to the UGA MLA class of 2014. It’s been great working and learning with all of you, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Thank you all for participating in the conversations, venting sessions, and social events that have made graduate school memorable. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank those who offered their time and resources to assist in the exploration and execution of this thesis. In particular, thank you to the Lake House guys – Thomas Peters and Zach Richardson – for the use of their land and the relaxing bamboo harvesting explorations and experiments. I know whom to call if I ever need information regarding boo, goats, pigs, chickens, invasive species, or cane. Additionally, I would like to thank Sig Sandzen for his time and sledge hammer skills in helping with the installation of the environmental art piece and for his input and critique throughout the process. Lastly, I would like to thank my committee for their time, support, critique, conversations, and interest. This has been an intense, extended process and I could not have accomplished it without the help of you all. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 UTILIZING ENVIRONMENTAL ART AS AN EXPLORATIVE PROCESS .......... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Defining Environmental Art ................................................................................... 1 Argument ................................................................................................................ 4 Significance ............................................................................................................. 5 Research Method .................................................................................................... 7 Limitations and Delimitations ................................................................................. 8 Chapter Summaries ................................................................................................. 9 2 APPROACHING SITE, SIGHT, AND INSIGHT: A SYNTEHSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S MOVMENTS, THEMES, AND CONCEPTS ........... 11 Monet and Constable: Sight .................................................................................. 11 El Lissitzky: Sight Informs Insight ....................................................................... 13 Land Artists: Site and Sight Inform Insight .......................................................... 16 Public Art: Site and Sight, Dismissing Insight ..................................................... 19 Environmentalists to Present Day: An Integrated Approach ................................ 21 Synthesis ............................................................................................................... 23 vi Summary ............................................................................................................... 24 3 EXAMINING APPROACHES TO SITE, SIGHT AND INSIGHT: A SERIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL ART CASE STUDIES ............................................................ 25 Selection Criteria .................................................................................................. 25 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 27 Case Study One: Peter Eisenman, The Garden of the Lost Steps ......................... 28 Case Study Two: VAV Architects, Mirror Lab .................................................... 33 Case Study Three: Tim Knowles, Tree Drawings ................................................ 38 Case Study Four: Kurt Perschke, RedBall Project ................................................ 42 Case Study Synthesis ............................................................................................ 48 Summary ............................................................................................................... 52 Moving Forward ................................................................................................... 54 4 RESEARCH THROUGH DESIGN: INDEXING THE IN BETWEEN ................... 55 Selecting the Founders Memorial Garden ............................................................ 55 Direct Observation ................................................................................................ 58 Site: The Concept .................................................................................................. 63 Sight: Material Selection and Scale ...................................................................... 66 Insight: Design Implementation Phase One .......................................................... 70 Design Implementation Phase Two ...................................................................... 74 Design Implementation Phase Three .................................................................... 78 Design Implementation Phase Four ...................................................................... 82 Final Form ............................................................................................................. 86 Design Critique ..................................................................................................... 91 vii Reflecting on the Approach .................................................................................. 95 Moving Forward ................................................................................................... 98 5 CONCLUSION: EXPANDING ENVIRONMENTAL ART’S VALUE TO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE .............................................................................. 99 Diffusing the Boundaries ...................................................................................... 99 A Model for Practice ........................................................................................... 100 Future Research ................................................................................................. 102 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 102 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 104 APPENDICES A Founders Memorial Garden Historical Synopsis ...................................................... 106 B Implementation Observations Journal ...................................................................... 109 C Time Lapse Photography Contact Sheets ................................................................. 114 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Traditional Approaches vs Environmental Art Approach ............................................... 5 Figure 2: Site
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