The way people think about art is commonly limited to museums, galleries, and private collections. Artworks of various types are created as static objects, and their shelf life is prolonged by all means with conservation and protection measures. However, not all art is meant to be passed down through generations. Here are a couple of ephemeral art examples that highlight another shade of the meaning of art – the temporality and transience of natural beauty.

How Is Ephemeral Art Created?

The principle behind ephemeral art creation is the use of natural materials at hand. This way, an artist can show the principle of natural decay and evolution as the artwork starts to evolve in line with the process of natural materials’ transformations. The outcome of this is the audience’s contemplation of their life experiences’ transience, which is juxtaposed to static and conserved art objects like paintings and sculptures.

Top 3 Ephemeral Art Examples You Should Know

Let’s take a look at the world’s most famous ephemeral art examples that impressed the global art community and went down into contemporary art history.

#1 Spiral Jetty

Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” is one of the best-known examples of American ephemeral art. This public-space art object was created in 1970 on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The artwork represents a huge basalt stone dike, with rocks forming a spiral in the middle of the lake’s waters. It was created during the period of drought when the lake’s water level was unusually low, and soon afterward, the water level was restored to conceal the art object underwater.

#2 Marina Abramović’s Performance Art

Live performances also represent a unique form of ephemeral art, which exists at the moment of its creation and ends as the performance stops. One of the widely known artists who create unrehearsed, improvised performances is Marina Abramović. Her record-breaking 736-hour performance “Artist Is Present” was held at MoMA in 2010, with the artist welcoming the visitors for a silent facial exchange.

#3 Banksy’s “Love Is in the Bin (Girl with Balloon)”

The audacious self-destroying work by Banksy, featuring the artist’s world-famous “Girl with Balloon,” was sold at Sotheby’s in 2018. Banksy is well-known for his philosophical stance on the art’s temporality and transience, and this artwork implemented this philosophy by shredding a piece of the art upon the sale’s completion.

Each of these artworks reveals a different shade of art’s meaning and value. Instead of serving as a long-lasting legacy that can be embraced in person, ephemeral art offers a momentous opportunity to enjoy the beauty and aesthetics of art.