With the idea of the earth as both a medium and a canvas of art, Smithson hired local construction foreman Bob Phillips to help him construct the 1,500-foot-long Spiral Jetty from nearby rocks secured in place by concrete weighted to the bottom of the lake. By the time of his arrival in 1970, Smithson was lauded as an artist of great critical stature. His attraction to the Great Salt Lake was multifaceted, as the region’s geological wonders and cultural history fascinated him. It is precisely this interest in the odd and unconventional that led Smithson to Utah. Yet Smithson detected something rather magical in the mundane, opting to focus his artistic energies on sites that otherwise may have been forgotten. There was a particular mischievousness about this act of removing mundane materials from their original source to a pristine white gallery space. This interest in “Non-Sites” quickly made Smithson stand out among other artists of his generation and led to a number of international projects whereby natural materials such as rocks, mud and sand were transported from their original location into the art gallery setting. 2, 1938, in Passaic, New Jersey, Smithson's East Coast upbringing generated a strange obsession with abandoned industrial sites, mines and quarries, which he playfully dubbed “ Non-Sites.” It was this peculiar type of landscape - one that evidenced the ruins of forgotten dreams and human intervention - that fascinated Smithson much more than the highly cultivated, “ideal” landscapes of National Parks and botanical gardens. While there’s undoubtedly a regal demeanor that accompanies viewing art in a museum or gallery, getting to the Spiral Jetty requires a map, a reliable vehicle and some really solid shoes.īorn on Jan. Instead, land artists intended their works to be experienced rather than merely seen, allowing individuals to rise above the role of spectator. As such, earthworks radically challenge the traditional notion of artworks as delicate material items housed behind glass protectors in a museum. Just as we consider paint an artistic medium, land artists thought of natural processes such as sedimentation, seasonal alteration and human interaction to be mediums that alter both the shape and meaning of the work over time. Land artists pursued expansive and often unusual settings for their works, crafting what they deemed “earthworks,” which were intended to alter over time alongside the landscape. SALT LAKE CITY - Nestled amid the rocky shores of the Great Salt Lake’s Rozel Point, the Spiral Jetty is more than simply artwork it’s a testament to the seemingly infinite wonders of nature.Īrtist Robert Smithson constructed the spiral-shaped land art sculpture in 1970 after a detailed and prolonged investigation of the region.Īs an avid reader and intellectual, Smithson was the leading figure of the land art movement of the 1960s, which sought to extend art outside the confines of galleries and museums.
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