Maymont

I found this awesome tree on a really nice day when I went to Maymont. To me, it is not necessarily a beautiful work of art, but you can see the way that man has touched this tree. It was a really cool tree anyway, with the way the roots are splayed out. On top of that, you can see all the graffiti and carvings into the tree. While I'm sure that this is not good for the tree, it just looked really cool and old. I'm sure with time the tree will overcome these cuts and will become healthier, which reminded me of the concept of earth art and how nature will overcome what man has done to it.

Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy

Here is the beautiful Fountain of Trevi in Rome Italy. I am not sure if this could be considered earth art, but I did notice that someone else posted lots of pictures of fountains, and in my opinion, this is the most beautiful of all. After trekking around Rome for hours trying to find our way to the Trevi Fountain, we stumbled upon masses of people sitting around it. It is massive, and has intricately done sculptures accenting the back of it. I think I would consider this to be earth art since it incorporates water into it. It is said to be magical...if you through one penny over your shoulder, you will get good luck and if you throw two pennies over your shoulder, you will find your true love and return to Rome someday.

Newgrange

I am curious...does Newgrange count as Earth Art? It is a ritualistic creation, and has been known to be a burial sight. However, it is also intricately intertwined with the summer (or winter, I don't remember) solstice. There is an altar in the center of Newgrange, and when the sun rises on the solstice, it comes in through the front door and lands directly on the altar, which signifies that the people who created this probably placed a great deal of importance and value on the earth and nature. With this being said, what does everything think? Is it earth art, or just something to serve a function as a burial and ritualistic sight? (Additionally, check out the spiral artwork that is found on the entrance, and also throughout Newgrange...this has been associated with earth art as well)

Earth Art I Found (Assignment 2) to be continued...

Here is a piece of Earth art that I found. I stumbled across this one day as I was walking down to Belle Isle and to explore the river. I used to live in the neighborhood where this was found, in Oregon Hill. The houses in the background were my next door neighbors. I had never seen this piece of art, although I am sure that it was there for quite some time. As you can tell, it is set on a hill, so maybe because the angle of the hill blocked the houses from it, thats why I didn't see it until I opened my eyes. Additionally, to the right of the picture but out of the frame is the Belvidere bridge over the James River. I thought that was interesting because this piece of art is located in a position where lots of people could see it if they knew what they were looking for, but otherwise goes pretty much unnoticed because it blends in with the landscape pretty well. I think this piece was meant to inspire budding artists. It seems as though it was pretty simple to create, and I have a feeling that the artist who created it probably didn't even create it as "a piece of art", but rather something to inspire peace in those who see it and to give a message to the people of Richmond.

Desert Breath

I found this piece of earth art to be fascinating. It was done by D.A.S.T. art team in the El Gouna desert of Egypt. It is a gigantic piece, taking up 25 acres of desert land. To think of the struggles that this team must have gone through to create this work of art makes it feel even more worthwhile, because I can only imagine the blasting winds and sand accompanied by the sun blaring down. It is hard to notice in this picture but the artists put little mirrors on top of each cone to create a sort of optical illusion for the viewer. What stands out to me most though is the spiral shape. I think that spirals are the language of nature, and are found everywhere throughout nature. There is a relationship to how far apart each cone is and also the distance from the center relative to the size of the cone. All of this shows the amount of time and skill it took to put this together, and shows that the artists had great dedication.