# The SDMB Ephemeral Art Appreciation Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2019, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ephemeral-art-appreciation-thread/831478 "2019-03-25T03:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ephemeral-art-appreciation-thread/831478/1 "2019-03-25T03:48:40Z")
Reading [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872937) about a particular beach art installation made me wonder what we’ve discussed here in the past about “ephemeral art” that’s intrinsically non-permanent. And I can’t find very much on the subject, so here’s a thread for it! Beach art, ice carving, snow sculpture, butter sculpture, yarnbombing, confectionery, sand mandalas, whatever: what’s your favorite example of **artwork(s) laboriously created but designed to be destroyed or decay in a relatively short time**? (Media that are exceptionally delicate/fragile but theoretically non-ephemeral, such as super-fine paper cutting and the like, don’t count in this category.) I’ll start: I think the [large-scale mathematical snow designs of Simon Beck](https://www.theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/gallery/2014/nov/06/simon-becks-snow-art-landscapes-mathematical-designs-drawings-alps) are absolutely amazing. Not just the skill but the sheer physical endurance required to create them so precisely, and then the artistry of photographing them! (No, I don’t think the existence of photographs disqualifies them from being “ephemeral”.) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ephemeral-art-appreciation-thread/831478/2 "2019-03-25T07:15:07Z")
This page [bob smith | Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/155285423@N02/) has cairns that I have made. Some lasted months, some a year or so, but all the ones pictured have been knocked down. I had over 2 dozen standing at various places around my radius at a time. Some get shot at, some get toppled by raptors landing on the top stone, most get knocked over by wild horses trying to scratch their backs on them. I stopped taking pictures. I’ve got a bunch out there, some in places no one will ever see. I’ve built one so strong and solid it amazes me it still stands, over 14 feet tall, about 20 stones. Been up almost a year now (Mother’s Day). The horses don’t go up that ridge. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ephemeral-art-appreciation-thread/831478/3 "2019-03-25T07:26:53Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > This page [bob smith | Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/155285423@N02/) has cairns that I have made. Some lasted months, some a year or so, but all the ones pictured have been knocked down. I had over 2 dozen standing at various places around my radius at a time. Some get shot at, some get toppled by raptors landing on the top stone, most get knocked over by wild horses trying to scratch their backs on them. > > I stopped taking pictures. I’ve got a bunch out there, some in places no one will ever see. I’ve built one so strong and solid it amazes me it still stands, over 14 feet tall, about 20 stones. Been up almost a year now (Mother’s Day). The horses don’t go up that ridge. Those are so cool. I’m impressed. I’m easily impressionable, though. Don’t let that discourage you. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ephemeral-art-appreciation-thread/831478/4 "2019-03-25T10:44:36Z")
[Andy Goldsworthy](https://www.google.com/search?q=goldsworthy+art&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=WgVkrZO4WS_1PM%253A%252C7QjqBFf7j1nerM%252C%252Fm%252F027rbq&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTWMv9ZQs0XCj9Dy63b2iC7WPVGTw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjauqWRjZ3hAhXeGDQIHXIYDkMQ_h0wGHoECA8QDw#imgrc=_&vet=1) is an excellent example of this with his environmental art. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ephemeral-art-appreciation-thread/831478/5 "2019-03-28T13:11:14Z")
> [@Encinitas](#): > > [Andy Goldsworthy](https://www.google.com/search?q=goldsworthy+art&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=WgVkrZO4WS_1PM%253A%252C7QjqBFf7j1nerM%252C%252Fm%252F027rbq&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTWMv9ZQs0XCj9Dy63b2iC7WPVGTw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjauqWRjZ3hAhXeGDQIHXIYDkMQ_h0wGHoECA8QDw#imgrc=_&vet=1) is an excellent example of this with his environmental art. Those are indeed pretty doggone cool. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ephemeral-art-appreciation-thread/831478/6 "2019-03-28T14:37:23Z")
Stan Herd and his crop art. I’d post a link to images if I wasn’t on my phone, but they’re easy enough to google. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ephemeral-art-appreciation-thread/831478/7 "2019-03-29T02:42:49Z")
[Stan Herd crop art](https://www.google.com/search?q=stan+herd+crop+art&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGjojYqKbhAhVwTd8KHeEPAhsQ_AUIDygC&biw=1158&bih=811) Those are cool too! Huh, we seem to have converged on quite large and robust forms of ephemeral art. No [butter sculpture](https://thetakeout.com/the-surprisingly-lofty-history-of-american-butter-sculp-1821827196) love?