Have you ever stumbled across a place that was unique, undeniably creative or otherwise just plain weird? There’s a good chance it has been documented in the SPACES archive and if it hasn’t, you could help document it!
These fascinating locations are called Art Environments. Here’s how the SPACES website defines the term:
WHAT DOES THE TERM ‘ART ENVIRONMENT’ MEAN?
This term is customarily used to refer to immobile constructions or decorative assemblages, monumental in scale or number of components. Art environments may be interior or exterior, and typically include elements of sculpture, architecture, bas-relief assemblage, and/or landscape architecture. Such composite works, produced additively and organically without formal architectural designs or engineering plans, owe less allegiance to folk, popular, or mainstream art traditions and the desire to produce anything functional or marketable, and more to personal and cultural experiences, availability of materials, and a desire for personal creative expression.
They are generally intended to be viewed in their entirety rather than as a grouping of discrete works.
Studies of individual sites usually reveal the labors of a single, passionate worker (an artist in our eyes, but not always in those of the creator), typically—but not always—begun in the later years of their lives.
These Art Environments can be found all over the world, and they have an interactive map that you can use to find ones near to you! We have been fortunate enough to visit a few of these special places near Los Angeles, including Salvation Mountain, East Jesus and The Phantasma Gloria. Now we have even more to visit!
SPACES is happy to receive information about new (or new to them) art environments around the world! Visit their FAQ page to see how to submit a location!
Hat tip: Rusty’s Electric Dreams
