What Should 'Environmental Art' Look Like?

摘要

While I was an undergraduate studying art history, I was exposed to Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their "environmental art." The only thing "environmental" about their art is that they are using the landscape as their canvas. Other than a few works, including The Gates and Wrapped Reichstag, their work has always appeared to be insensitive to the actual environment.rn"Surrounding" islands (Surrounded Islands) in pink fabric and wrapping a shoreline (Wrapped Coast) in erosion-control fabric cannot be good for the marine and coastal ecosystems that were affected by this so-called art; miles of curtains lining hillsides (Valley Curtain) and confining trees (Wrapped Trees), even for just a few weeks, causes ecological impacts. Their art should really be labeled "textile art" because it is their use of fabrics as their artistic medium that defines their work.