Art from Nature

Kirk Rademaker creates brilliant machines out of sand. They have a definite steampunk aesthetic, and the attention to detail is amazing. It's somewhat sad that these pieces aren't made to last, but that's also a part of their beauty.

I actually came across quite a few other fantastic sand artists, and I may give them a post all to themselves when I have a moment.


Robert Smithson was an American land artist and a pioneer of the land art movement.

Spiral Jetty, which resides at the Great Salt Lake in Utah, is his most famous work. It's 1500 feet long and composed of rocks, earth, salt, and red algae. I think it's absolutely beautiful, and interestingly, it's not always visible because of the fluctuation in the water level.

Walter De Maria, another land artist, created the Lightning Field in the high desert of New Mexico. It consists of 400 stainless steel poles spaced approximately 220 feet apart.

Todd Gibson of From the Floor posted an interesting piece about his experience at the Lightning field. Contrary to what I believed, the lightning doesn't actually strike very frequently, but Gibson gives a good idea of what an experience at the lightning field is actually like. It's intriguing.

5 comments:

moif said...

I love those machine sand sculptures, but what I'd really like is if they also showed them decaying!

Cyan said...

Indeed. :)

Anonymous said...

Glad you enjoyed the sand sculptures.....I've actually got some pics of em breaking down. Never thought of putting making a page ....I'll have one up by the end of the week. Thanks for the idea.

Cyan said...

That would be fantastic. :) Your work is just amazingly beautiful.

moif said...

EXCELLENT!

Good to see your on the job!

=)