This research delves into the return of the forest as a central motif in contemporary artistic practice, tracing its evolution since 1968 within the framework of ecological consciousness, critical resistance, and poetic imagination. The forest is not approached merely as a pictorial or thematic element, but as an epistemological and ontological space where artistic production intertwines with notions of refuge, subversion, and reconnection with the non-human. Beginning with post-1968 countercultural movements and extending through to current eco-artistic practices, the study examines how the idea of “emboscarse” (going into the forest)—inspired by Ernst Jünger’s concept of the Waldgänger—has permeated the works of diverse artists seeking to challenge dominant paradigms of visibility, productivity, and urban centrality. Through detailed analysis of visual, performative, and land-based artworks, the thesis constructs a genealogy of forest-oriented practices that respond to the alienation of late capitalism by embracing spatial withdrawal, sensorial immersion, and symbolic resistance. The forest emerges as a liminal zone that allows for the re-articulation of artistic subjectivity and ethical positionality in the face of ecological collapse and systemic violence. Rather than an escapist gesture, the return to the forest is framed as a politically charged act of reimagining the relationship between art, territory, and life itself. The research contributes to the fields of art theory, eco-criticism, and aesthetic philosophy by offering a conceptual cartography of the forest in art, re-signifying it as both a critical metaphor and an operative terrain for emancipatory artistic thought and action.
Santamaría Fernández, A.E., 2023. Ambushed Art: The Return to the Forest in Artistic Practice Since 1968. Doctoral thesis.
