Site-specific, also referred to as environmental art, is an artists intervention in a certain location. Through site-specific art, the artist creates an artwork which he integrates with his surroundings and which explores the relationship to the topography of the location in which the artist intervenes with his art. The location in which the art intervenes can be indoors, desert, marine, or otherwise. While planning and creating the artwork, the artist will take the location of the artwork into account and consideration. The artist has not just thought about installation a site-specific artwork. The artist has been motivated by the need to take good care of the environment. In this way, the artist has been motivated by the need to provoke people to start thinking more about the environment in which they live and which surrounds them (Greenberg, 1962).
The artists work has also been shaped by how site-specific art emerged and how it has evolved to become what it is today. According to the available literature, site-specific art emerged after the modernist objects and as a reaction of the artists then to the situation in the world. The modernist art objects could easily be transported, they were nomadic, and could only remain and exist within the museum. Since 1960 the artists wanted to have a way through which they could move away from the situation. Therefore, they become attentive to the site and context surrounding the site (Mclver, 2004).
DESIGN AND MATERIAL
The location for the artwork will be outdoors, but it will be from the Koc University Campus. For this reason, the artwork will include landscaping in combination with permanent site sculptural elements. Since the artwork will be outdoors, it will include dance performances which will be specifically created for the site. The audience will be interacting with the sculptural elements through observations and touching. Additionally, they will watch and listen to dance performances with the aim being learning more about the environment in which they live or around which they live. The materials with which the sculptural work will be done will also assist in supportive of the artists work in promoting care for newspaper vacancy advertisements the environment. The sculpture will be made from the waste materials from the environment to show the target audience that they need not destroy the environment in search of materials for building some things and enhance protection of the environment all the time.
Figure 1: Example of the artwork
LOGISTICS
Environmental education is an important element and effort required in solving environmental problems. Therefore, the education and the means through which the artist will educate people at KU Campus about protection for the environment must be relevant to the needs and interests of the people and community while constantly adapting to the rapidly changing and evolving social and technological landscape. The artist will meet some resistance from the people who might not have seen such a thing as using site-specific art to sensitize people about the environment. However, the artist will use new knowledge and techniques through which he will address the demands of the increasingly changing social and technological landscape.
The piece of artwork will remain the premises of KU Campus for two months. This is the time expected that most of the targeted people will have gotten the information on the need to take care of the environment. However, there is a possibility of extending the two months depending on the feedback from the targeted audience. The project is such that it will need other people to help the artist in working and completing it. Therefore, the artist will contract other people with the same mind of protecting the environment to help in ensuring the environment is taken care of within the campus and outside the campus. The piece of artwork like the one in the picture above will take a week only to make. There is nothing to budget for since everything will be readily available in the environment and nothing will be purchased.
References
Mclver, G. (2004). A recent history of site-specificity and site-response. Retrieved October 24, 2016, from Site Specific Art.
Greenberg, C. (1962) `After Abstract Expressionism, Art International 6, 8: 26-30