Meg Webster is an American-born artist who desires to show the world from her unique naturalist-minimalist viewpoint. All through the 1970’s and 80’s she was interested in land art created through the use of minimalist methods, and a great emphasis on the nature of our world. She declares that she is “a sculptor who makes minimal art with natural materials to be directly perceived by the body” and that “some works are to be entered [while] some works are planted”. The way that her art informs others is by focusing on the importance of environmental preservation and mindfulness, thus eliciting a very tranquil experience that is also quite eye-opening and introspective. Art that Webster creates allows the viewer to gather a great sense of environmental awareness simply by creating a pedestal for the nature that already surrounds us. Acting as a reminder, to those whom have been indoctrinated into our technological and media-heavy society here in America, her art shows that our world is beautiful and that we are responsible for maintaining the environmental health of the planet. That has remained her message throughout her artistic career and especially with this Untitled piece.

                      Untitled – (1990)                     

Unlike most of Webster’s pieces (which have titles), this piece in particular is interesting because it has no title, thus no assumptions or preconceived ideas are imposed upon the observers. Created in 1990, around a time period which favored of technological advancements and other societal, political, and cultural focuses, this piece of land art comes with a message focused more  on the environment and nature. The observer is able to look at this untitled piece and purely absorb it and ultimately focus on the plants growing within the piece itself. This piece is a vessel for nature to inhabit; it is a stage upon which different types of flora both flourish and perish. It is this cycle of life and death, as well as the pure celebration of nature that truly brings out the artistic expression to this piece.

Artist Statements and Interpretations

For my piece I wanted to challenge myself and create a piece embodying a minimalist style to reflect Webster’s message. I felt that a digital collage could perfectly personify Webster’s core and fundamental message of modern environmentalism, due to the sense of modernistic expression that the particular medium evokes. I posed my model with the backdrop both the sculpture and the green grass trees, setting a natural stage. She’s dressed in a modest dress as a representation of the colorless and drab ring of the sculpture while also attempting to draw attention away from who she is and draw more towards what she represents. In one hand she holds flowers, a symbol for our humanistic care of nature. In her other, she holds a contorted mechanism, devoid of naturalism and soul. Within the collage I created a circular ring encompassing her form, a near religious symbol commonly found in depictions of Jesus, Mother Mary, the Saints, and more. This was in attempt to both re-establish focus on the subject and to signify a absolute importance to her role. The blooming flowers braced behind her symbolize the motifs of rebirth and profound and harnessed life. All the while, the balance of industry and nature is in her hands and at her will. The figure embodies ‘Untitled’ by Meg Webster in a innocent human form, grasping the power of the organized modernity and chaotic, uncontrolled nature. Overall, this collage amplifies Webster’s message by dissecting and displaying the literal aspects of it and thus showing the importance of each. (Created by Taylor Kibrick)

This piece relates to Webster’s sculpture through an expression of similar themes such as simplicity and the relationship of humankind and the earth. The re-imagining of the piece adds to the value and understanding assigned by the individuals observing and engaging in the work of art, that being because the piece lacks physical complexity. Webster’s preferred medium used within this piece consists of common materials that have been re-purposed to create something new. Much like how Webster takes other materials and constructs her message of environmental awareness, this compilation and merging of existent internet clips forms a new impression upon which we view the environment. Particularly this video also goes beyond Webster’s piece by showing the current rigid state of the natural world. Observers of both this video and the untitled work will feel an environmental message expressed. While the video specifically is showing said observer how we must take action and care for our environment, Webster’s piece is doing the same thing just with less impact and visual stimuli to lift up the overarching message.  (Created by Griffin Hutchings)

My piece is a digitally animated work which focuses primarily on the ring of the untitled piece, while in the process representing Webster’s piece as this mystic incubator of nature. The reason that I focus on the ring itself is because that is the only part of this piece that was actually constructed by Webster herself. Dirt and flora (in some cases fauna), that merely exist within this vessel that Webster has created, are not man made and so are rather being housed, protected, and live within this space. This animation interprets Webster’s piece in a new way by enthusiastically and sporadically declaring that it is the reason for a healthy environment which is able to flourish within its walls. Over-exaggeration within the video works to represent the untitled piece almost as this all-powerful deity which has the power to emphasize and transform the nature within. Being that the world around the ring is colorless and bland, until the piece appears and it creates color and vibrancy within the world, further re-enforces the godlike personification of the untitled piece. Just as Webster wants to show the importance of environmental recognition, this animation shows that this untitled piece is trying to display a cordial invitation to look at nature in a new way (within a world where nature is typically overlooked). Being that it is animated also helps to reinforce a strong message as well, since imagination can take on motion as a means of expression. Since Webster’s piece is of course a stationary piece (and being that the plants grow and die at such a slow rate), being able to show a sense of drastic change within the plants in the animation only leads one to greater appreciate all that Webster’s piece unknowingly displays and expresses. (Created by Wilhem McKee)

SYNOPSIS

Overall, the three pieces that we have created do a great service to Webster’s piece. They all do a fantastic job of re-interpreting Webster’s minimalist, unassuming, and simplistic piece in a way that breaths new life into it while still showing off the original intent and artistic prowess of the piece. Webster’s piece acts as this ephemeral yet radiant beacons of environmental awareness, and yet by standing no taller than 2 feet tall it makes for a piece which could be easily overlooked. Our conjoined efforts help to display Webster’s message out in the open in ways that are emotionally evoking, instantly gratifying, and artistically appealing. Comparatively to how Webster feels she must express her message, through making it more of a suggestion shrouded in seclusion, we are loudly making a declaration in a non-minimalist fashion that this piece is important and that Meg Webster has a message that needs to be heard.

Sources:

“Artists – Meg Webster.” Guggenheim.org, www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/Meg-Webster.

“Meg Webster.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_Webster.

“Meg Webster – Biography.” Paula Cooper Gallery, 2019, www.paulacoopergallery.com/artists/meg-webster/biography.

Michael, Galerie. “Analyzing Periods of Contemporary Art: The 1980s.” Galeriemichael.com, 1 July 2017, galeriemichael.com/2018/01/analyzing-periods-of-contemporary-art-the-1980s/.

Webster, Meg. “Meg Webster.” Meg Webster, megwebsterstudio.com/.

By: Wilhem McKee, Griffin Hutchings, and Taylor Kibrick.