ecological art

Form of art concerned with natural, organic processes such as decomposition. It first appeared in the 1960s. As ecological works reveal natural processes, they usually change over time. For example, the ecological artist Alan Sonfist dampened his canvases and then sealed them in glass boxes, where they gradually grew mouldy. Other works by Sonfist include a colony of ants, twigs, and warren tunnels, each depending on the natural passage of time to expose organic changes.