On, In, and Within a Place

Abstract

This article examines six modes of operation on, in, and within a place in Israeli conceptual art and landscape architecture. These modes—action-in-place; intervention; place-making; representation; readymade; and second-nature—maintain landscape architecture’s conception of a genius loci, the spirit of the place. They also attend to place as a new and critical means of operation in the 1970s emerging field of conceptual art. This article explores diverse attitudes and motivations for operating with/in place, as it became a fundamental issue in the international arena in the 1970s, in relation to Israeli cultural, political, social, and environmental concerns. In the context of the period’s sociopolitical turmoil and ideological controversy, the article’s two focal points—the six-mode perspective and the disciplines’ attitude toward place—complement each other and attend to the manifold aspects of place (ha-Makom) in Israel, while highlighting its intricacy.