Nature is the art of which we are a part. Believing that artistic expression can and does play an important role in changing the way we perceive our relation to the world we live in, art critic John K. Grande takes an in-depth look at the work of some very unusual environmental artists in the United States, in Canada, and in Europe. Dealing with everything from materials, to the politics of curatorship, the permanence of art works, to the artist's role as cultural critic, Balance: Art and Nature takes theory into action as it critically examines the works of Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Armand Vaillancourt, Bill Reid, Carl Beam, Kevin Kelly, Ana Mendieta, James Carl, Patrick Dougherty, Keith Haring, and others. What emerges is a viable social-environmental framework for evaluating contemporary art and insights into art's actual and potential roles.