Notes from the Underground: Land Art Under Lockdown III at Plant Sciences Building
0111: Notes from the Underground, 2022, found objects, dimensions variable. Collaborative piece by Rahat Duary, Elise Shallbetter and James Westwater.
From their home base classroom in the basement of the University of Maryland's Plant Science building, intrepid Landscape Architecture (LARC) students take on the big issues and make art in, of, and about landscapes. Then they created an installation in the classroom, a former workshop/storage space, PLS 0111.
“What are they making in there?”; “Why are they always outside taking photos and picking up trash?”; “What is land art anyways?” These are just some of the questions asked about the students as they put together their projects.
The advanced seminar/studio course LARC 689C Land Art: Interventions, Mediations, Meditations was designed in 2019 by Landscape Architecture instructor and artist, James Westwater, to give students, including landscape architects, architects and artists, the opportunity to learn about and make their own land art.
Central to the course is the study of earth art or earthworks, land or environment artists and related sculptors and nature-inspired artists such as Agnes Denes, lan Hamilton Finlay, Hamish Fulton, Andy Goldsworthy, Michael Heizer, Nancy Holt, Derek Jarman, Agnes Martin, Maya Lin, Richard Long, Walter De Maria, Ana Mendieta, Mary Miss, Georgia O'Keeffe, Dennis Oppenheim, Robert Smithson, Rachel Whiteread, and Amanda Williams.
Fine art practices, including painting, appropriation, found objects, land art, photography and video, are starting points for students to develop their own dynamic visual language to communicate ideas, inspire clients, and lead positive change.
Now, the third and final group of LARC 689C land art acolytes will show you what they’ve been up to all these months: masked, unmasked, indoors and out. So, catch it while you can: "Notes from the Underground: Land Art Under Lockdown III", May 6–22, PLS 0111, by appointment or peer through the glass doors.
For appointments, please contact: Elise Shallbetter elisesh@terpmail.umd.edu or Rahat Duary rahatduary@gmail.com
