So far in the course, we have seen two important ways artists address reality. Both these approaches began in Europe and were transferred to America in the 1930s and 1940s, where they continued to develop.
One is primarily concerned with the nature of existence: this includes reality and consciousness, and the ability of each to comprehend and connect with the other. These artists tend to break up the image (if they use it at all) but mostly they favour abstraction. The other is primarily concerned with the nature and fate of the individual: his/her psychology and identity as formed or imposed by family and society, his/her resultant ability to flourish, struggle, hide or conform, his/her prospects for survival, and what it all feels like. These artists tend to favour figuration with its advantages of recognizability, narrative, symbolism, and ideas connectable by association.
Of course, it is also possible for artists to try one approach and then another, and even to seek to combine them. Most of our artists today came out of Minimalism, which clearly belongs to the "nature of existence" approach. Not only should this enhance our understanding of the Earth Artists, it should also alert us to the more universal aspect of the personal-social conflicts examined by the Conceptualists and the late figurists.
When you've looked at these artists and their works, see if you can characterise their overall mood as groups, and their trust or fear regarding the future.