Oftentimes, with art pieces that are placed purposefully in nature, one has the question of why? Why place your (often very expensive) works in the unpredictable home of nature and the outdoor environment when you could place it in a controlled, pristine, state of the art museum? Surely museums would be easier for people to visit, rather than in possibly harsh terrains and conditions. It’s here where the similarities between Jason deCaires Taylor and Richard Serra’s art installations lie—actively choosing to use nature as the mantle and space that their art made a home in.
Jason deCaires Taylor arguably chose a space that serves as a direct opposite of Richard Serra, in that he chose water as the home of his underwater sculptures rather than the desert. These self described underwater art museums “…are essentially artificial reefs, formed of carefully manufactured sculptures installed at various locations around the world. Each sculpture is created using non-toxic, pH neutral marine grade cement, free from harmful pollutants, becoming an integral part of the local ecosystem.”[1] Richard Serra’s choice of the Brouq Nature Reserve in Qatar for his steel monuments is notably not as easily accessible as Taylor’s is, as Taylor chose the areas he did to draw tourists “…away from the delicate ecosystems and fragile corals of existing reefs, where divers may do more harm than good…”[2] Both artists, however, saw an opportunity to use natural materials to complement the natural environment rather than cause damage to it—in Serra’s case, he didn’t alter the topography of the desert at all to make sure his monuments were on the same even ground. He worked with the space he was given to give the illusion of the monuments being the same height, when in fact two are technically taller than the others.[3]
Back to the original question of why they, artists, would do this, I turn to Una Chaudhuri’s interspecies diplomacy thesis; though she uses human and animal interaction as the backdrop of her essay, I believe that Chaudhuri’s ideas surrounding humans viewing themselves on equal footing with nature rather than one being praised over the other.[4] I believe that this can be readily applied to natural space as well as animal species. People make meaning from art, so it stands to therefore reason that if nature (rather than a typical museum) lies as the space for which the art interacts with, then people will then be able to derive new meaning from nature that they hadn’t before.
The question then becomes will this new meaning create any form of conscious awareness of humanity’s almost parasitic relationship with nature, continuously taking and not giving, and inspire any form of further change? Does the artist intent matter as well? Serra did not really consider any social or political narratives to apply to his art; he simply shapes his art around the natural space, whereas Taylor is deeply concerned with the politics surrounding climate change and marine preservation[5]. Furthermore, while the art pieces themselves are made from materials that don’t damage the environment they’re in, the same cannot be said for the humans that visit them.
With Chaudhuri’s thesis in mind, arguably there would be no need for artists to use their work to somehow make or force humans to see the beauty of the natural landscape. However, with today’s current climate, it may be a necessity. If humans cannot bring themselves to stop seeing themselves as above nature, and that nature is there for us to take from with no thought as to how that might cause damage in the long run, then we’re doomed. Maybe using art as a medium to get humanity involved with their natural space and environment is a good way of forming some form of collective awareness that spreads and grows. Only time will tell if Serra’s piece, or Taylor’s, or any other natural artwork will truly impact the way humanity interacts with natural space.
Bibliography
Chaudhuri, Una. “Interspecies Diplomacy in Anthropocenic Waters: Performing an
ocean-oriented ontology.” In The Stage Lives of Animals, pp. 214-227. Routledge, 2016.
Niarchos, Nicolas. “Richard Serra in the Qatari Desert,” June 18, 2017.
“Overview.” Underwater Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor. Accessed November 2020.
[1] “Overview,” Underwater Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor, accessed November 2020, https://www.underwatersculpture.com/about/overview/.
[2] “Overview,” Underwater Sculpture.
[3] Nicolas Niarchos, “Richard Serra in the Qatari Desert,” June 18, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/richard-serra-in-the-qatari-desert.
[4] Una Chaudhuri, “Interspecies Diplomacy in Anthropocenic Waters: Performing an ocean-oriented ontology,” In The Stage Lives of Animals, Routledge, 2016. 214-227.
[5] Nicolas Niarchos, “Richard Serra in the Qatari Desert.”
