Kristine Carreon “Agnes Denes and her Ecological Artworks”

Wheatfield – A Confrontation is Denes’ most known work of art. In 1982, two acres of land were devoted to Denes’ use as a wheatfield in lower Manhattan. According to Denes, she said that the wheatfield represented “food, energy, commerce, world trade, and economics,” calling to ecological concerns in urbanized areas and the growth of globalization. The wheat that was harvested was distributed to 28 cities around the world, providing people with seeds they could plant; the hay was given to police horses in Manhattan. This distribution of food brought food shortages and many inequalities to the limelight. This shows the importance of world hunger and lets people think about the future of humanity and how their actions lead them to face their own consequences. 

The Living Pyramid is a New York-based art piece finished in 2015 and can be seen in Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens; this is Denes’ first New York-based land art since Wheatfield – A Confrontation. For this art piece, Denes studied mathematics, history, and ecology, which are foundational for philosophical and social curiosities. The Living Pyramid is part of a collection of Denes’ pyramid models, which examines the significance of the environment and its relationship with social hierarchies; those higher up on the social hierarchy tend to ignore ecological and environmental concerns, showing ignorance of posterity’s standard of living. Since Denes has experienced sexism throughout her life and as an artist, some conclude that The Living Pyramid symbolizes her “creative fecundity and life force.” 

Tree Mountain – A Living Time Capsule was built between the years of 1992 and 1996; Denes planted 11,000 trees with the help of 11,000 people in Ylojarvi, Finland. The Finnish government allowed the project to occur to raise awareness of the world’s ecological stress. Denes created Tree Mountain to remind future generations of people’s environmental legacies in the commitment to ecological, social, and cultural life on Earth. Today, Tree Mountain is considered a virgin forest, or protected land, by the United Nations Environment Program and the Finnish Ministry of the Environment. It provides wildlife with a home and allows for a thriving, natural environment.