ABSTRACT
In the video installation, an eerily lit dome sat within a barren and mountainous futuristic landscape. The droning noise that rumbled through the darkened, cold, brick-built interior of the icehouse gave the dome a brooding presence that could have been malevolent or protective. Kelly Richardson's dystopian vision, integral to which is an uncanny hyper-reality afforded through the use of advanced digital technology, is one manifestation of her preoccupation with landscape, and more particularly what she terms an 'apocalyptic sublime'. Mary Beth Edelson and Ana Mendieta were two artists who sought to reconnect the female body with landscape in an era of increasing consumerism and the rise of feminism. It is through ecologically focused practices that the interdisciplinary practices of artists working with land are keenly felt. In recognising the diversity of influences informing the emergence of Land Art, Boettger's Earthworks: Art and Landscape in the Sixties is significant in acknowledging important work carried out by European artists and galleries.
