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Contemporary Art?
In fact the term “contemporary art” has accumulated multiple meanings, depending on the context in which it is used,
may refer to many different things:
1)a certain kind of art-making,
2)a particular aesthetic sensibility,
3)an art historical period,
4) a way of exhibiting,
5)a particular department within a museum of art,
6)even certain habits, tastes, and prices in the higher echelons of the art market.

Contemporary Art meaning

“the art of today, more broadly includes art work produced during the late 20th and early 21 st centuries. It
generally defines art produced after the Modern Art movement to the present day. However, modern art work
is not just art produced during a specific time-frame. This genre of art does have its own approach or style
that distinguishes it from others.

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-ARTISTIC MODERNITY (MODERNISM)
-Artistic modernism is a period that incorporates certain aesthetics that emerged in
Europe at the end of the19th century.
-The effects of philosophy and technology in shaping modern art are undeniably great.
The cultural structure that has developed and changed with the industrial revolution
creates differences in the fields of aesthetics and art as in all other fields.
--The individual who passed from the agricultural society to the industrial society found
himself in the middle of a completely different world. Urban migration brought about by
industrialization has led to the creation of new cities and thus deeply shaken the rural
cultural community's commitment to its religion and beliefs.
-In the West, which has become an industrial society, radical cultural changes have
been experienced. Putting religious belief aside, the modernist understanding based
only on science and technology was reflected in art,and all the artistic phenomena of
the past period were buried inhistory together with thepast.

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SYMBOLISM

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DADAISM

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Surrealism

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KINETIC ART

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CONCEPTUAL ART

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PERFORMANCE AND BODY ART

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In the second half of the 20th century, Performance Art,
which attracted attention with its interdisciplinary feature
and only started to be accepted as a genre in the 1970s,
became known under various titles such as "Body Art",
"Happening", "Action".

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It should be emphasized that Performance Art, which is
similar to theater in terms of being a genre "staged" in
front of the audience, has developed as a wing of
Conceptual Art and its relationship with theater is more
distant than its relation with visual arts. Performance art
is an unlimited set of approaches that can include poetry,
music and dance as well as theater.

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Performance Art

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Performance Art: This art performed with one
or more artists; in front of or away from the
viewer; It can last for a few minutes, hours, or
days.
Performance Art, which can be displayed as
photographs or video recordings from time to
time is among the art movements that have
shown a truly international character.
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 Vito Acconci, "Trademarks", 1970,
performance, New York

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American Artist Vito Acconci, in his performance titled
Trademarks", which he stamped himself by biting
himself, made us think about the factors of the capitalist
economy that direct people to consumption.

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 Vito Acconci, "Trademarks", 1970, performance, New
York

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"Land Art"
"Earth Art"
"Environmental Art"

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LAND ART
Soil, Stone, Sand:

(1960.. 1970...)

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In the 1960s in the USA in vast lands, various installation-based art
projects have greatly expanded the definition of 'landscape which is one
of the traditional forms of art.

From the 1960s on, the 'landscape' turned into a real space and began to
be intervened by artists. Robert Smithson was one of the leading artists
of the trend.

As Smithson says I am using bulldozers instead of brushes", these

artists have created many interesting 'field installations' that are mostly
temporary but include examples that are likely to survive thousands of
years.
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In addition to the reaction of the artists towards the traditional
gallery spaces, there is an environmentalist movement that
started to develop in this period.
The dangerous dimensions of industrial development and
technological speed, whose negative effects were felt more in
the second half of the 20th century.
Land Art is the product of an approach that makes nature
visible, aims to raise awareness about nature, and blesses
nature against technology.

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 Robert Smithson, "Spiral
Breakwater", 1970, stone, soil, salt
crystals, water, Great Salt Lake,
Utah, USA

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Robert Smithson's unforgettable work "Spiral Breakwater"
was created in the Great Salt Lake in Utah in an area that was
formerly used for oil extraction. The spiral form of the
breakwater, in the center of the lake refers to the legendary
whirpool that is said to be found.

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This work of Smithson, who deals
with the idea of entropy, which is
an expression of the natural life-
death cycle in his works, was
submerged after a while due to
natural changes, but appeared on
the surface again in the early
2000s. Approximately seven
thousand tons of soil was used to
realize the "Spiral Breakwater".
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Earth Art"

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Among the examples of "Earth Art" made with natural
materials on display in the gallery space, Walter De
Maria's (1935-) "New York Earth Room" performed at
New York Dia Art Center in 1977 is among the first
examples that come to mind.
With 300 kilos of soil in a 197 square meter space. This
installation, made in terms of both its appearance and
smell, with raw soil as a symbol of nature. On the other
hand, it can only be watched from the doorway. He gave
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 Walter De Maria's (1935-) "New York
Earth Room" performed at New York Dia
Art Center in 1977

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Ecological Art

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Mel Chin (1951 -) implemented a project in
Minnesota in 1993 under the name of "Soil
Resurrection Project", resorting to the necessary
agricultural practices in a land that has become
inefficient from chemical wastes and restored the
parcel by 'rehabilitating' the parcel for a few years.
It has accelerated a natural process that could take
years.
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 Mel Chin 1993
"Soil Resurrection Project"

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