Andrews Leicesters earth projects outside Rochester, Minnesota, USA were executed in 1974. Now they look as if they have been on their hilly sites since early man. These linear formations seem to exsist in a timeless landscape, like the neolithic pictographs on chalky downs of Leicesters native England, yet their actual images could only have arisen out of recent American art. Leicesters earth works are best viewed in motion, either from the air or from the southbound lane of Highway 52. The images have a single word quality from the distance, but as one approaches, they kaliedoscope into epigrams of shifting lines. Open spaces collapse and open again; linear fragments align, then fall suddenly into different planes.
Each of the six works involves the same principle a regularised sign imposed on an irregular site, yet each site has its own way of producing movement.
Site 1 incorporates an arrow, a mark that symbolises movement along an axis. Also, by the nature of its linear definition, and also by the fact that it is placed running downhill, the arrow encourages the eye to track in an up-to down direction.
Site 2 is a zigzag
Site 3 involves a grid section, and suggests an outdoor game.
Site 4 is composed of four shapes, each bounded by four sides.
Site 5 has two attenuated X's of different sizes
Site 6 is a triangle bisected by two diagonals
