In the 1960s, a group of pioneering artists looked away from the commoditized gallery or museum setting and toward nature’s abundant resources—thus, the Land Art or Earthworks movement was born. Championed by artists like Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt in the United States, and Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy in the United Kingdom, Land Art used the naturally occurring elements of a landscape as its medium. In order to see a piece of Land Art, the visitor must travel to its location and sometimes view the work from a particular vantage point. Often, artists document the piece of art through photographs and maps, which they may display in a gallery setting. Perhaps the most famous example of land art is Smithson’s Spiral Jetty of 1970, a monumental sculpture of a winding coil formed by thousands of tons of basalt rocks and earth. At 1500 feet long and 15 feet wide, the sculpture can only be fully viewed from an aerial viewpoint. Another well known piece of American Land Art is Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels (1976), which consists of four large concrete tubes arranged in an open cross shape in the Utah desert. Holt selected the locations of the tubes so that they perfectly frame the rising and setting sun of the summer and winter solstices.

Unlike his American counterparts, Richard Long created ephemeral pieces of land art, of which his documentation remains the only permanent element. He made his work A Line Made By Walking (1967) by walking back and forth many times in a grassy field, until a distinctive line was formed. Long then made a photograph of the work, after which the location reverted back to its original state, erasing the line. Many artists associated with the Land Art movement also make sculptural works for display in galleries out of some of the same natural materials.