Environmental art

Environmental art is an umbrella term for a range of artistic practices encompassing both historical
approaches to nature in art and more recent ecological and politically-motivated types of works.[1][2]

'The term "environmental art" often encompasses "ecological" concerns but is not specific to them.
[3]
 It acknowledges the early history of this movement (which was often more about art ideas than
environmental ones) as well as art with more activist concerns and art which primarily celebrates an
artist's connection with nature using natural materials.[1][2]

Aviva Rahmani's Blue Rocks project (2002) drew attention to a degraded estuary on Vinalhaven Island, Maine. The
USDA then contributed over $500,000. to restore twenty-six acres of wetlands in 2002. (Photograph by Aviva
Rahmani)

The term "environmental art" is used in a variety of different contexts: it can be used to refer to art
describing the natural world, art that celebrates personal engagement with the natural world ("art in
nature"), and to the practices of ecological artists, whose work directly addresses environmental
issues ("ecological art" or "eco-art")[4][5] through educating people about the natural world, or
intervening in and restoring the natural world.[1][2] Ecological artist, Aviva Rahmani believes that
"Ecological Art is an art practice, often in collaboration with scientists, city planners, architects and
others, that results in direct intervention in environmental degradation. Often, the artist is the lead
agent in that practice."[6]

The media and activities used by environmental artists are incredibly diverse, including painting,
photography, performance art, politically activist events, experiments with light and sound,
sculpture, eco-feminism, creation of large earth-based installations ("earthworks", "land art"),
architectural installations, and scientific inventions. Scientific information frequently inspires or is
incorporated into such works.[1]
History: Landscape painting and representation[edit]

Claude Monet, Waterloo Bridge, London

Historically, early examples of environmental art stem from landscape painting and representation.
When artists painted onsite they developed a deep connection with the surrounding environment
and its weather and brought these close observations into their canvases.John Constable’s sky
paintings “most closely represent the sky in nature.”[7] Monet’s London Series also exemplifies the
artist’s connection with the environment “For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its
appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life, the air and
the light, which vary continually for me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere that gives subjects
their true value."[8]

Diane Burko, Waters Glacier and Bucks, 2013

Contemporary painters, such as Diane Burko represent natural phenomena - and its change over
time - to convey ecological issues, drawing attention to climate change.[9][10]Alexis Rockman's
landscapes depict a sardonic view of climate change and humankind's interventions with other
species by way of genetic engineering.[11]