Richard Long features in HENI Talk's exploration of Land Art

21 November 2019

‘Time, place, relativity, experience. These are the key concepts in Land Art.’
– Ben Tufnell

Curator and writer Ben Tufnell maps out a definition of Land Art, a creative practice associated with the broader conceptual art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Moving away from traditional media and the gallery, land artists set out to make work directly in the landscape, often using the natural materials they found there. But there were some notable divergences in the gestures and structures made by American and European artists of the period. Tufnell outlines these differences and the long-reaching and important legacy of the movement in our time of climate crisis.

Richard Long's seminal 1967 work 'A Line Made by Walking' is highlighted as a revolutionary means of art production, through which simple gestures could carry great philosophical weight. Long continues to work in and with the surrounding natural landscape in locations across the world, recording his temporary works of passage with photographs, maps and text works. Tufnell notes: "To inscribe a line on the ground with footsteps is, in a way, registering your existence in the world, on the world. It’s a way of making something out of nothing. And there’s a beautiful poetry to that."

HENI Talks is a non-profit initiative dedicated to sharing insights about art history from authorities in the field, as part of a broader commitment to supporting art education and widening public access to art. To see more, click here.

Image: Richard Long, 204 Somerset beach stones in 17 lines of 12 stones each, 1972-73, Somerset beach stones

Click here for more Videos