Industrial Transcendentalists

Transcending Industrial Capitalism

Transcendentalism was an early 19th century intellectual, literary, and philosophical movement that unfolded in New England, emphasizing individualism and the divinity of nature. Key figures like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau advocated for personal connection with nature and non-conformity driven by the belief that divinity pervades all nature and humanity. While nineteenth century Transcendentalists idealized nature, the American landscape became rapidly transformed by gold and silver mining, government land surveys and the completion of the transatlantic railroad by the mid century. The pristine wilderness they had imagined was largely brought under control of commercial interests which came to define America by the turn of the century.

With the emergence of consumer culture after WWII, American enterprise became less associated with majestic landscapes and increasingly enthralled with the technological sublime, projecting a global image of technological progress and modernity. In this later period of industrialization, the scale of conglomerated and financialized enterprise transformed the national landscape in a more totalizing way, expanding beyond national boundaries. Artists working with industrial and commercial materials at this time sought and found connection with the divine, using industrial and commercial materials as a means for spiritual revelation and transcendence.