Alan Sonfist is perhaps the ultimate purist of the Earthworks movement. His projects never violate or impinge upon the natural order of a place. They serve as signifiers to the history of the land, incorporating and highlighting prior natural events. In Sonfist’s early work, he proposed to create a museum of air so that people could experience the air of the world in different environments and see how our atmosphere has changed with the changing environment. He also proposed to rename the streets in New York City to be identified with the native animals and geology that no longer exists within the city. His art often centers on the restoration and regeneration of natural landscapes, using as materials the once ubiquitous native flora of a region, its rock and earth formations, and water. He creates a living monument to an area’s natural past by recreating forests on disabused city lots or enshrining bronze castings of trees within arrangements of plantings for sites both within metropolises and in locations more remote around the world. He has displayed core samples of the substrata beneath office buildings removed during construction as commissioned pieces for the lobby. As intriguing as these concepts are today, in the late 1960’s, when his work first became widely recognized, this sort of things was completely unheard of. Sonfist’s efforts have helped to reshape the way that art is thought of and experienced, making him one of the seminal figures of recent conceptual art.

CHRISTOPHER CHAMBERS: What are the costs of producing an Earthwork today as compared to the early 1970s or late 1960s when you first developed the concept of Environmental Art, and executed your first efforts in the field?

ALAN SONFIST: The costs involved parallel the fluctuations of the economy in general, and of course reflect the requirements of each individual project. The appreciation of my Environmental Landscapes resonates in the value of the land they exist on. The Time Landscape of Tampa, Florida in the early 1990’s required redeveloping the entire area. At that time it cost $14,000,000. I transformed seven acres of a dilapidated warehouse strip into an ecological artwork that unfolds the natural beauty of the site’s history. The challenge was to include the history and ecology of the area, while considering the concerns of the community. The history was scattered and vague; I had to draw on many sources. The park is a composite of the input from plant historians and specialists. Long before early colonialists established Tampa as a major trading post for tobacco, the indigenous people had begun filling solid earth into the wild marsh beaches. Later, it became a railroad hub, and then an insurance center. Each of these human periods represents a change in the ecology, from the Mangrove to contemporary ornamental planting. I have worked with the parks department and the city to create environmental landscapes like this one. I also work on private commissions. For a townhouse in Toronto, I created a landscape of the geology of the region through the multiple ice ages. All of the plants are descendants from the ones that existed in the transitional periods during and after the three ice ages that we know of. With the help of the shade from the townhouse, the plants were in complete compatibility with the environment. The plants and materials are selected according to the environmental conditions such as light, air quality, and moisture. These factors keep the cost of the project from ballooning to accommodate the untimely deaths of unsuitable plant life. This project cost $100,000 to create, but has almost doubled the market value of the townhouse. The property itself is now a living artwork.

C.C.: How is your fee determined?

A.S.: I usually receive eight to fifteen percent of the total cost. Itvaries from project to project, depending on the needs of the site and my involvement. Starting with the concept, I can allow a separate party to execute the project, or I can continue the project
myself. This involves the research of the site, finding the materials, and supervising the construction.

C.C.: Please compare the various bureaucratic procedures involved in creating your living sculptures, i.e. public versus private (government, corporate or individual) commissions.

A.S.: In general, I prefer working with private individuals and corporations. The process tends to be economically efficient. In several of my corporate commissions, I have been able to find creative solutions that cost the client less money. Governmental commissions, in contrast, are not responsive to cost savings. The Time Landscape, my first major commission, was a blend of public and private sponsorship.
I had responsibility for the budget, and I was able to seek out the most efficient individual contractors in the city. In Italy when I built Circles of Time for the Gori family the artwork involved moving a part of the grove into a circle. Instead of choppingthe trees down and planting new ones, I was able to work out a technique to transplant the 200-year-old olive grove. 

Circles of Time consists of a series of rings that represent the natural history, from prehistory to contemporary. My transplantation method has become a standard part of the estate’s maintenance.

C.C.: What is the intrinsic and residual value of a site determined artwork, and how does it affect property (real estate) value?

A.S.: The artwork inevitably enhances the site, adding value to the real estate. Instead of generic, anonymous corporate landscaping, which require continual maintenance, my landscapes are natural and environmentally symbiotic. They are unique among corporate landscapes, and attract public attention to the corporation’s building, enhancing the corporation’s public image. My Time Landscape in Manhattan has been given Landmark status by the mayor, which is a very rare treat for contemporary art. Time Landscape is a pre-Colonial outpost in the middle of one of the most modern cities in the world, that visualizes the open wooded areas of trees, flowers, and undergrowth of the past. It has become a resting point for the migratory birds and tourists that pass through Manhattan. On clear days in the spring and fall, one can see bird watchers hovering around the site.

C.C.: How is your fee determined?

A.S.: I usually receive eight to fifteen percent of the total cost. Itvaries from project to project, depending on the needs of the site and my involvement. Starting with the concept, I can allow a separate party to execute the project, or I can continue the project myself. This involves the research of the site, finding the materials, and supervising the construction.

C.C.: Please compare the various bureaucratic procedures involved in creating your living sculptures, i.e. public versus private (government, corporate or individual) commissions.

A.S.: In general, I prefer working with private individuals and corporations. The process tends to be economically efficient. In several of my corporate commissions, I have been able to find creative solutions that cost the client less money. Governmental commissions, in contrast, are not responsive to cost savings. The Time Landscape, my first major commission, was a blend of public and private sponsorship. I had responsibility for the budget, and I was able to seek out the most efficient individual contractors in the city. In Italy when I built Circles of Time for the Gori family the artwork involved moving a part of the grove into a circle. Instead of choppingthe trees down and planting new ones, I was able to work out a technique to transplant the 200-year-old olive grove. Circles of Time consists of a series of rings that represent the natural history, from prehistory to contemporary. My transplantation method has become a standard part of the estate’s maintenance.

C.C.: What is the intrinsic and residual value of a site determined artwork, and how does it affect property (real estate) value?

A.S.: The artwork inevitably enhances the site, adding value to the real estate. Instead of generic, anonymous corporate landscaping, which require continual maintenance, my landscapes are natural and environmentally symbiotic. They are unique among corporate landscapes, and attract public attention to the corporation’s building, enhancing the corporation’s public image. My Time Landscape in Manhattan has been given Landmark status by the mayor, which is a very rare treat for contemporary art. Time Landscape is a pre-Colonial outpost in the middle of one of the most modern cities in the world, that visualizes the open wooded areas of trees, flowers, and undergrowth of the past. It has become a resting point for the migratory birds and tourists that pass through Manhattan. On clear days in the spring and fall, one can see bird watchers hovering around the site.

C.C.: Your works incorporate time, both in the historical context, and in consideration of the work’s physical future. How is the conservation of the work factored in, in respect to erosion and other entropic forces?

A.S.: In all of my sculptural environments, maintenance and liability are internal components of the artwork. The plants are indigenous, and the formations follow the natural, historic growth. Additionally, the indigenous plants bring historical reference to the building. The plants are selected for their compatibility with the interior of the building as well as the exterior. Maintenance becomes minimal. The individuality of the landscape is the payoff.

C.C: Can a work of land sculpture be moved or recreated with integrity as an authentic commodity, and who retains the copyrights?

A.S.: Anything is possible. In the 21st century, we have the technology to move buildings.

The landscapes are intended to become a permanent part of the community, but can easily be donated. They are lasting symbols of the individuals or companies who donated them, like the Picasso sculpture in Chicago. It has become a unique entity under the proud ownership of the corporation. My sculptures can and have been moved and resold. I can envision, as our natural resources become scarce and valuablecommodities, that landscapes will be bought, sold, and transplanted. Certain hardwood trees are already on the market with price tags of up to $30,000 apiece. Creating an artistic environment with these species enhances their value more.

C.C.: Regarding resale: to your knowledge, has a parcel of land been sold as a sculpture?

A.S.: In our society, everything can be sold. Rauschenberg and Warhol made famous the idea of transferring popular images to canvas, and selling them as artwork. Early on, these art works were given away. Now they’re auctioned for millions.

C.C.: Has an Earthwork ever been taken to auction?

A.S.: No, but I expect that it will happen in the future, as they become a part of art history.

C.C.: Do you also produce more object-oriented works?

A.S.: Yes. I’ve always felt that the direct hand of the artist should be involved in the creation of art. The artworks that sold for hundreds of dollars in my early career have doubled in value every five years, such as my photography I have been taking photographs since I was a child. In my early exhibits, I would always show my nature-related photographs. In the early 1970’s, I had a photographic-collage show at Leo Castelli’s gallery. Each photograph showed time elements, as in my Time Landscapes. They showed the seasonal changes as well as viewing-point changes, creating a sort of cubist portrayal of nature. As in my Time Landscapes, they offer juxtaposed time. They are simultaneous records of the past, present, and future.

C.C.: Do you operate within the traditional gallery structure?

A.S.: Yes. My most recent sculpture were exhibited at the Santa Fe Art Institute Gallery last summer. The artwork visualizes the fragile balance between nature and the human environment. Rapid forest fires are ravaging North America’s historic forests at this moment. While these fires are not set by human hands, they are the environment’s response to the cumulative human interaction with nature. Nature’s force is evident in our difficulty combating the fires. The smoke and ash effect our daily lives. The change in the visual landscape is drastic. Through my art, I mourn the loss of the indigenous trees, while paying a silent homage to nature’s contrary ferocity. I have selected a section of the damaged forests of New Mexico to represent the devastation of forests across North America. Each tree is a fingerprint of its own destruction, from semi-charred limbs to trunks entirely exploded from the heat.

C.C.: You have been known to flatly refuse to have your recent projects published or even discuss your new ideas publicly - which is why, by the way, I have refrained from discussing any of your numerous current projects, and stuck to a business oriented format. - While your exclusive policy certainly wards off imitators, how does it affect business?

A.S: My work has been widely copied in recent years, so I am careful about what I allow to be published. At this point in my career, I don’t have the time or energy to pursue each case legally. I am constantly busy with a number of commissions, and am very selective about which projects I will accept. Of course, I don’t have complete control over the media. This summer, the Burning Forest (Santa Fe) was featured on the front page of the local newspaper while in it was in progress, as well as receiving television coverage. As far as the affect on business, I really hadn’t thought about it. My work has been included in all contemporary art history books about environmental art. I am more interested in the long-term influence my art will have in the environment and the people who support it. My art comes from my inner dreams about the environment.

Christopher Chambers


Portions of the above are reprinted from a previous text with the permission of Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs, LIC, NY
 

Christopher Chambers is an artist, writer, curator and editor . He lives in New York, NY