Agnes Denes

Abstract

Within ecological art history, Agnes Denes emerges as an artist who has been dynamically engaged with sustainability for decades. Through her writing, environmental sculptures, and gallery artworks, Denes anticipated the rise of sustainability since the mid-twentieth century and continued to incorporate it in her works into the twenty-first century. Her development of “eco-logic” as a way of artmaking that responds to environmental and philosophical concerns, her earliest site-specific eco work entitled Rice/Tree/Burial with Time Capsule (1968–1979), and her more recent sculpture Pyramids of Consciousness (2005), all share a common thread of sustainable engagement. Before turning to Denes’s practice, however, definitions of sustainability as it relates to art history more broadly are necessary. While Denes and many other ecologically engaged artists may not offer immediate, practical roadmaps for sustainable development, the value of their artwork lies in the development of culturally oriented sustainability that centers on perceptions of nature, intergenerational justice, and creative engagement with environmental issues. Drawing from writing by John B. Robinson and Sacha Kagan, this contribution parses the differences between sustainable development and cultural sustainability. Then, an overview of sustainability within the history of environmental art is given. Finally, themes of sustainability in Denes’s artistic practice are illuminated.