Describing the leading triumvirate of land artists Michael Heizer, Robert Smithson and Walter De Maria, art historian Germano Celant says they are “troublemakers” that confused the market: “They didn’t have any market, not only because they were difficult, but also because people were not able to grasp them.” 

This highly affectionate criticism has inspired the title of acclaimed curator, filmmaker and writer James Crump’s new feature documentary, Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art, previewed here. The documentary tells the story of how, as the 60s turned into the 70s, these unruly New York artists began making monumental earthworks in the great, empty spaces of the deserts and salt lakes of the American Southwest; the sort of art that could never be contained in a museum, nor sold at an art fair, and is often destroyed by natural forces. 

In February 2014, Crump visited Michael Heizer’s Double Negative (1969-70), located near Overton, Nevada. “At the top, on the edge of the work, you see nothing but horizon and the huge dome of the sky. You begin to sense this incredible vastness of space and your relative insignificance in this remote desert landscape,” says the director. “The energy of the site is palpable. It struck me as no less spiritual than any sacred mesa set aside for Native American rituals. When our crew made two helicopter shoots of the site and we wrapped up the day’s work, it was like saying goodbye to a living, breathing entity.

Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art will be screened in conjunction with MOCA and Ace Hotel in Los Angeles on September 29.

Dean Kissick is a freelance writer and regular contributor to i-D and The Guardian.