Understanding the Creation of Abstract Concepts beyond the Intangible and Tangible Materials of Land Art

Background and objective: Understanding abstract art as an art form requires depth of thought. Moreover, understanding land art as abstract art is challenging, given its focus on the minimalism and abstract concepts. Much focus, research, and work were actively conducted in the 1970s, as it represented an abstract expression of minimalism. The characteristics of minimalism connote abstract meanings in the use of materials. Nevertheless, the original research of works or artists has often been mentioned, but few studies have analyzed the abstract language of land art materials. The aim of this study is to thus determine the abstract meanings of materials in land art from the 1970s to the 2010s. Methods: Art-based research was employed to address the aim. This study classified the land art materials into intangible and tangible materials, where intangible materials focused on lines, circles, and labyrinths, and tangible materials focused on the earth, stones, wood, and snow. Results: Intangible and tangible materials of land art conveyed various abstract meanings. Intangible materials were reflective of connection and symbiosis with nature, delivering abstract languages of ‘take-nothing,’ ‘reflection’ and ‘opportunity.’ Tangible materials reflected the abstract concepts of ‘intervention,’ ‘resistance,’ ‘unliving,’ and ‘change,’ and conveyed caveats. In other words, taken together, intangible and tangible materials were presented in symbiosis–and with caveats–and delivered messages for the present and the future. Interestingly, intangible materials inherently reflect symbiosis and communicate caveats in works based on a non-contextualized present and future. Conclusion: Interpretation of the abstract languages derived from intangible and tangible materials could imply a symbiosis between humans and nature, while conveying the message that caveats, to humans, are still ongoing. This relationship plays a significant role in an artist’s selection of a medium, which is reflective of abstract beliefs reflected in contemporary, nature-based works created on Earth.