| installation | An art form rising to prominence in the 1970s that features the creation of total environmental works of art installed in entire rooms or other spaces. Installation works can involve a wide range or mixture of media. Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party is an example.
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| conceptual art | Anticipated by the "idea art" of Marcel Duchamp and rising to worldwide prominence by the early 1970s, an art movement that emphasizes the primacy of the artist's ideas and concepts over the finished, physical art object or commodity. Conceptual artworks often take the form of written notes, essays, or photographs documenting the artist's thought processes or creative projects.
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| performance art | Any work of art constituted by the observable activity of the artist. It rose to prominence in the 1970s, a type of art in which the artwork consists of the artist him- or herself engaged in some kind of observable or performing activity. Examples are the artist Joseph Beuys's interactions with a coyote in an art gallery for a limited audience and Laurie Anderson's huge multimedia productions performed in packed concert halls.
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| activist art | Works of art whose primary purpose is to activate social and political change. Such works, in any medium or art form, are often integrated into larger political actions or communal events.
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| environmental art | Art whose medium, setting, and/or purpose is based in the natural or built environment. Contemporary environmental art includes the creations of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and the earthworks of Robert Smithson. Ancient predecessors of today's environmental artworks include England's Stonehenge and the Native American Great Serpent Mound.
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