In the 1970s, the OHO group’s artistic practice turned to interventions in nature. These early examples of land art in Slovenia indicate the shift from art centered on objects to dematerialized gestures. With its subtle interventions – e.g., drawing a taut string through a field of wheat, placing mirrors in a wood, or following an object floating in a river – the group positioned art in nature in a way that was neither aggressive nor exploitative.
The OHO group did its interventions at a time of growing environmental awareness. Greater awareness of issues such as air pollution and the impact of industry on the environment, as well as the dissemination of ecological literature like Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), influenced the formation of organized movements for the preservation of nature. In this context, the first Earth Day was organized in 1970. In Slovenia, this was a time of student protests, the transition from an agrarian to an industrial economy, and the first air pollution measurements. With its artistic practice, subsequent communal life, and the propagation of the idea of coexistence with nature, the OHO group is an example of living environmental awareness in that crucial decade.
