The Art in Nature – or: Thinking About My Research

Land art is a fascinating form of art, blurring the lines between the artificial and the natural. You could say land art gives us insight in the way culture works: integrating humanity in the natural world, while at the same time changing that world – making it hard to say whether the artist discovered or constructed meaning in the landscape he worked with (and: does “working with” means nature is partner in the process of creating, or that it's just a tool?). In that regard I see a parallel between land art and religion, both being concerned with meaning, both being concerned with the ecological relationships humanity is embedded in and in which culture plays such an important role. That's a bit how I see my doctoral research project: learning how science (i.e. evolutionary theory) can help us understand how religion came to be, how it evolved into e.g Christianity and how Christian faith can highlight meaning in and about our world. In other words: I want to learn how Christianity is a part of the human narrative, with its own particular story to tell.

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