I came across the art of James Turell and Vik Muniz a while back, and have since been intrigued and inspired by their work. I aspire to make work that is not just something beautiful look at but something beautiful to experience. Perhaps one day I will be able to combine my interests in psychology, culture, and nature to make work that can have a social/environmental impact in the same way their work does.
James Turell’s degree in perceptual psychology coupled with his Quaker heritage and values led him to develop work which challenges perception and promotes curiosity and education about the natural world. He is most well-known for his creation of observatories called “Skyspaces” which allow viewers to experience a changing relationship between the landscape and the sky as the outside seems to become the inside and vice versa.
James Turell’s degree in perceptual psychology coupled with his Quaker heritage and values led him to develop work which challenges perception and promotes curiosity and education about the natural world. He is most well-known for his creation of observatories called “Skyspaces” which allow viewers to experience a changing relationship between the landscape and the sky as the outside seems to become the inside and vice versa.
"Twilight Epiphany" Skyspace JAMES TURELL
Perhaps one of the most well-know land artist/social practice artists today is Vik Muniz. Muniz's series that best showcases his desire to make social change was not made from the land at all but instead from trash. This said, in Jardim Gramacho, the largest landfill of the world, the landscape is practically made up of garbage and waste. Muniz, along with the help of the trash sorters, created very massive and almost regal portraits of a handful of the workers. Not only did he personally engage these already prideful workers in an extremely exciting creative event, he auctioned off the prints and gave the money back to the community. In this way, he was able to create work that was not only beautiful in its aesthetic but also in its ability to have an impact. In the end, I hope to see social/environmental practice art continue on into the future, for it reveals the extremely significant impact of man’s environment on his communal and internal well-being. Additionally, it speaks to how deeply affected humans are by their surroundings and how critical it is that man uses his innate desire to create and innovate-- not to destroy-- but to question and explore that which makes us who we are from both without and within.
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JARDIM GRAMACHO series
Vik Muniz
Vik Muniz
