Land Art
Title: Land Art – Land Art is White Supremacy
Created: 2023
Medium: Graphic Design
Software: Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop CC
Dimensions: 36″x48″
Articles
“In 1868, the United States entered into the treaty with a collective of Native American bands historically known as the Sioux (Dakota, Lakota and Nakota) and Arapaho. The treaty established the Great Sioux Reservation, a large swath of lands west of the Missouri River. It also designated the Black Hills as “unceded Indian Territory” for the exclusive use of native peoples. But when gold was found in the Black Hills, the United States reneged on the agreement, redrawing the boundaries of the treaty, and confining the Sioux people—traditionally nomadic hunters—to a farming lifestyle on the reservation. It was a blatant abrogation that has been at the center of legal debate ever since.
In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. had illegally appropriated the Black Hills and awarded more than $100 million in reparations. The Sioux Nation refused the money (which is now worth over a billion dollars), stating that the land was never for sale.”
– Smithsonian Magazine, In 1868, Two Nations Made a Treaty, the U.S. Broke It and Plains Indian Tribes are Still Seeking Justice
“Land art is property. It needs property to be purchased for it to sit upon, and it’s one person’s vision realized. It’s their property.”
“These mounds are a stark contrast to Michael Heizer’s recently unveiled City and other land works in progress like James Turrell’s Roden Crater and Charles Ross’s Star Axis. City seems to be an homage to functional spaces, places built collectively, but in execution, it is one white person’s vision. City was created with intention. It is geared toward art lovers, and only six of those lovers can visit per day. It is exclusive. It is a mile and a half long and is considered one of the largest artworks ever built. It’s built within the ancestral lands of the Southern Paiute and the Western Shoshone. It cost $40 million to build. It is, like most things born out of the concept of manifest destiny, set in the West, in Nevada. It is hubris in art form.
Mount Rushmore is perhaps the most hubristic of white men’s land art projects, at least in regard to Indigenous people. The monument is an affront to Lakota culture: a celebration of white men colonizers carved into a sacred area (not property) of the Lakota people, the Black Hills. Chris Eyre’s excellent film Skins (2002) addresses the offensive placement of this sculpture. A character in the film wants to blow up George Washington’s face; well, of course he would—I wouldn’t want a United States president staring down on me in my tribal territory either.”
– ALTA, The Problem with Land Art, Hurbis in Art Form.
Download
Download the 8.5″ x 11″ poster (.pdf), Print – Land Art is White Supremacy.
Close-Ups
Land Art
Land Art is a series of artworks by Ihanktonwan Dakota artist David Bernie that addresses issues related to land art projects, such as land ownership and being born out of the concept of manifest destiny.
Creative Commons License
This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
