The Circle is an art project including artists from Estonia, Sweden, Germany and Russia. The project was started in 1996 and intended to be active for many years. The leader of the project and of the whole idea is Anne Kokkov. The main idea is to introduce 'landart', but art exhibitions in different galleries in Estonia and Sweden have been arranged as well.

Landart is a phenomenon of art which has not been popularised very much in Estonia, although some people think it should be. The ideas behind it include great reverence for the land, the Earth, the environment and human values, so we can set a high value on landart in the social sphere. Its target audience is the most wide - everybody.

The advantage of landart in comparison to some other phenomena in art is that landart is created in public, not in studios. Everyone can follow the process and ask for explanations about the idea, the realisation, etc. This way, people learn more about the active process of creation in art. Usually, the public can never do this, especially in districts far away from the art centres. This can be a unique chance for many people. Therefore, such symposiums have a great value, both in the sense of education and culture. In a way, landart places the personality of the artist on display for all to see, and to engage with.

Materials

There are no limits for the creation of landart. The materials depend upon the artist, or author, his or her inclinations, ideas, and aims. Some artists want their artwork to last. Others work for only a short period of time. The material can be wood, stone, plastic, paper, light, sound, etc. Every day modern industry manufactures lots of products which are used for a short time but which will never decay and be part of the cyclical process of nature. By using such secondary material to create artwork, landart can give a new life to it, so that one can perceive it in an aesthetic way.

History

Landart symposiums of the project have been arranged every year since 1997: 1997 in Lathe, Estonia; 1998 in Bollnäs, Sweden; 1999 in Pärnu, Estonia; 2000 February and June in Rakvere. In 2001, the symposium was held in Rakvere again to celebrate the 775th anniversary of the town. Photo exhibitions introducing landart works of The Circle are also exhibited. As a town with long history Rakvere is a very interesting place with its background and architecture typical of small Estonian towns.

The group of the artists participating is not constant. Some of them take part of symposiums every year. Every year some new participants are engaged. The Circle means a circle of life, a circle of people - artists who live in different areas but who share a similar cognition of the world. We live in the same epoch, in the same cultural terms. To understand more one has to know more. The Circle can't be a closed circle; new participants bring new ideas, enriching the whole conception.

Landart as a phenomenon originates from the 1960s. Landartists proclaimed that they had found a new perception of the world, new light and form. The whole conception of landart honours Nature, the land and the Earth. It holds that our age needs some new assurances about itself. We don't need slogans anymore. We need to acquire a new, deeper feeling that concerns our relationship with Nature and our individual relationship with the whole of mankind itself. We need assurance that we, and the place we live in, will last. So we are searching for real values again, values that have been sought and cherished throughout the whole history of mankind, but which may have got lost in the confusion of modernity.

The values which the landartists seek comprehend the essence of existence - the problem of good and evil; freedom of will, pre-destination and the irony of fate; relations between life and death; fertility; birth, rebirth and reincarnation; cycles in nature. In art, figures, symbols and signs depict the human values. An artwork is just matter, but at the same time it's an allegory.

In Rakvere, landartists have created a womb made of hay hanging on the trees, a giant human shadow on the hillside, a plastic sunrise/sunset, a wheel of time made of vinyl LPs, and other art pieces that are so symbolic that describing them in words is quite impossible.