9 Fascinating Ways Artists Are Using Geography

For many artists, inspiration naturally flows from the ‘great outdoors’ – whether that means land, sea, sky, or even city. But some artists are compelled to use the geographic landscape itself as a medium, and the results might take your breath away... *Celebrate Geography Awareness Week Nov. 16-22*

1. The Fabric-clad Coast

christojeanneclaude.net

Married couple and artist duo, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, are infamous for creating works on a massive scale. For their 1969 work, Wrapped Coast, more than 100 workers helped to cover two and a half kilometers of coastline in Sydney, Australia with synthetic fabric. The incredible result is larger in size than Mount Rushmore.

2. The Cityscape

photomichaelwolf.com

At first glance, it’s not obvious that Michael Wolf’s Architecture of Density is a depiction of one of Hong Kong’s vast high-rises – where thousands of people live above, below and next to one another. By not showing the ground or the sky, Wolf intentionally makes it difficult for viewers to comprehend the scale of the building.

3. The Skyspace

jamesturrell.com

James Turrell built Within Without to underscore the beauty of the natural world. The domed structure contains a “viewing chamber” overhead, open to the sky. To enjoy the serene, meditative experience this work offers, you’ll have to travel to the National Gallery of Australia.

4. The Field Waves

mayalin.com

Maya Lin has a lengthy track record of incorporating natural, open spaces into her art. Lin’s latest work, A Fold in the Field, is also her most ambitious: the work spans more than 20 acres and reaches 60 feet in height. Her inspiration? Water.

5. The Desert Dwelling

gifsoup.com

Deep in the California desert, artist Phillip K. Smith III transformed an abandoned shack into his artistic masterpiece, Lucid Stead. In addition to the cabin’s original logs, Smith added mirrors to reflect the natural light and landscape during the day and LED lights to illuminate the structure at night.

6. The Techno-landscape

behance.net

Spanning eight football fields, Stuart Williams’ Luminous Earth Grid looks like the laser projection of a giant supermarket barcode scanner, though it was created with 1,680 fluorescent lamps near to the ground. Said Williams: “The glowing green grid can be seen as an icon of computer imaging technology, which in this ‘real life,’ incarnation, gently melds with the flowing shape of a lovely landscape.”

7. The Forest Freeway

landezine.com

Fast Track by Salto Architects is an exceptionally long trampoline through a park in Nikola-Lenivets, Russia. Built for the Archstoyanie Festival, visitors can run, leap and jump their way down this 160-foot long path, which “gives [them] a different experience of moving and perceiving the environment.”

8. The Snow Drawings

mymodernmet.com

Artist Simon Beck uses his own feet to create these extraordinarily intricate designs in the fresh snow. After several days of plotting around in snowshoes in Savoie, France, a typical Beck piece is as large as three soccer fields and has a 3D effect when viewed from above.

9. The Nostalgia Machine

static.guim.co.uk

Staring your childhood home, Arcade Fire’s The Wilderness Downtown is an interactive music video that uses Google Maps to create a personalized experience for every viewer. Just enter the address of the home you grew up in and images of your hometown are artistically populated into the video for “We Used to Wait.” Nostalgia at its best, the video is a great example the great effect place can have on our lives.