Using materials such as earth, wind, water, fire, wood, salt, rocks, mirrors and explosives, American artists of the 1960s began to move beyond the white cube gallery space to work directly in the land. Histories of Land art have long been dominated by men, but this title shifts that focus to the vast number of earthworks by women artists.

This book includes five scholarly essays, as well as a detailed chronology, exhibition checklist and illustrated biographies of exhibition artists. With ties to Minimal and Conceptual art, these artists placed less emphasis on the discrete object and turned their attention to the experience of the artwork—however fleeting or permanent that might be—foregrounding natural materials and the site itself to create large-scale works located outside of typical urban art-world circuits. Groundswell is a resource for readers interested in understanding the historical Land art movement and our own relationship to the earth.