Robert smithson presents essays by top smithson scholars alongside both archival imagery and specially commissioned photography of the artists works. Spiral jetty robert smithson experiential guide spiral jetty. Download pdf robert smithson free online new books in. A voiceover by smithson reveals the evolution of the spiral jetty. Interest in robert smithsons landwork, spiral jetty 1970, peaked for me recently when reading geoff dyers interesting collection of travel works, white sands 2016. Robert smithson is one of the most enigmatic artists of the late 20th century. Spiral jetty is an earthwork sculpture constructed in april 1970 that is considered to be the central work of the american sculptor robert smithson. Works spiral jetty, 1970 patrons virginia dwan robert smithson from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia robert smithson january 2, 1938 july 20, 1973 was an american artist famous for his use of photography in relation to sculpture and land art. Nov 18, 2009 an aerial view of robert smithsons spiral jetty in utah, taken by a camera attached to a latex weather balloon from about 800 feet in the air.
Robert smithsons land art made on the great salt lake collage of his spiral jetty film and recent footage from a visit there. Best know for his sculpture and monumental earthworks, particularly the spiral jetty in the great salt lake, utah 1970, his work also includes drawings, paintings, collages, and writings. Robert smithson marriott library the university of utah. Not too long after that it was submerged as the great salt lake rose throughout the 80s. Jun 18, 2014 where the spiral in spiral jetty came fromwhat things inspired ithas always been a kind of riddle for students of smithsons work. Pdf the spiral jetty through the eyes of tacita dean ioanna. Completed in april 1970, spiral jetty is an iconic earthwork and smithson s most renowned piece. Smithsons revolutionary ideas positioned art as existing. Spiral jetty, robert smithsons famous 1970 earthwork on the edge of the great salt lake.
Robert smithson, the collected writings edited, with an. Apr 17, 2017 interest in robert smithsons landwork, spiral jetty 1970, peaked for me recently when reading geoff dyers interesting collection of travel works, white sands 2016. Spiral jetty 1970, robert smithsons seminal earthwork, is a 460 meter long and 4. It is saltencrusted and mysterious and very much in keeping with smithsons own sentiments, as when, in 1972, he wrote, i like landscapes that suggest prehistory. Spiral jetty george baker, bob phillips, ann reynolds, lytle shaw, robert smithson, diana thater. As if that massive construction were not enough, smithsons project also includes a poemlike essay and an avantgarde short film. Spiral jetty is a portrait of smithsons monumental earthwork of the same name at rozel point in the great salt lake, utah. Smithsons spiral jetty is a 1,500footlong work created in 1970 during a drought and subsequently was submerged for more than three decades before resurfacing in. Im thinking of the other smithson, the smithsonian one. The complex and influential career of robert smithson is presented in a richly illustrated study that also includes essays by smithson scholars and photographs of his works, exploring his artistic output in the context of the 1960s and in subsequent decades. Robert smithson robert smithson, eugenie tsai, cornelia. The most famous example is spiral jetty 1970, a 1,500foot long concentric ring of roadway that runs out into great salt lake, utah. Robert smithson spiral jetty, 1970 rozel point, great salt lake, utah black basalt rock, salt crystals, earth, and water 1,500 feet long and approximately 15 feet wide robert smithson was born in passaic, new jersey.
Made of black basalt rocks and earth gathered from the site, spiral jetty is a 15footwide coil that stretches more than 1,500 feet into the lake. The salt flats of the great salt lake, around the spiral jetty. His monumental earthen sculptures such as spiral jetty 1970, were inspired by the minimalist work of his contemporaries, as well as geology, science fiction, and the concept of entropy. Robert smithson, spiral jetty, 1970, 35 minutes, color, sound, smithsonian american art museum, museum purchase made possible by the ford motor. Spiral jetty, robert smithsons land art masterwork the. Baseline documentation and a system to monitor spiral jettys condition are necessary before any conservation treatment can be considered and developed. Built off of the northeast shore of the great salt lake, spiral jetty is a 1,500footlong, 15footwide earthen causeway 6,650 tons of mud, precipitated salt crystals, and black basalt rock. Smithson, who was tragically killed in an airplane crash in 1973, never was able to see his spiral jetty as it appears today. Robert smithson american, 19381973 was a painter and sculptor best known for his mature land art pieces, such as spiral jetty 1970. In march 2009, dia art foundation, which acquired the work as a gift from the robert smithson estate in 1999, approached the getty conservation institute gci seeking a simple, consistent. Anyone interested in smithson, the artist, filmaker, philosopher and writer will want to read this. Spiral jetty is a portrait of smithson s monumental earthwork of the same name at rozel point in the great salt lake, utah. Robert smithson was a seminal american artist and writer known for pioneering the land art movement. Watch more discoveries from salt lake city in a brand new episode on monday, april 10th at 87c on pbs.
Pdf spiral jetty 1970, robert smithsons seminal earthwork, is a 460 meter long and. Jul 03, 2009 spiral jetty, robert smithsons famous 1970 earthwork on the edge of the great salt lake. Jul 10, 2016 the spiral jetty is an earthwork sculpture by the late robert smithson. Since 2012, a geospatial aerial photographer has documented spiral jetty twice a year, in may and october. He was the creator of the spiral jetty, a spiral ridge sculptural protrusion in the great salt lake. Smithsons work is situated in the north arm of the largest inland body of salt water in the western hemisphere, many miles removed from the nearest. Made of black basalt rocks and earth gathered from the site, spiral jetty is a 15footwide coil. Smithson built a masterpiece from local materials, one that spirals counterclockwise into the lake and appears or is submerged with fluctuations in the lakes locally red. Last week, both the utah house and utah senate voted to approve robert smithsons seminal land artwork spiral jetty 1970 as the state work. Gianfranco gorgonis seminal photogaph of robert smithsons iconic earth work on. Robert smithson s monumental spiral jetty 1970 is a 1,500footlong coil of earth and basalt that extends into the water from the northern shore of utahs great salt lake. Download premium images you cant get anywhere else.
Daniel terdiman cnet rozel point, utahthe highest tech thing ive ever seen work out here is a car and. The jetty disappears and reappears depending on lake water levelsdrought years bring it out for all to see. Built on the northeastern shore of the great salt lake near rozel point in utah entirely of mud, salt crystals, basalt rocks and water, spiral jetty forms a 1,500footlong 460 m, 15footwide 4. World famous spiral jetty by robert smithson to become the. Nov 18, 2015 robert smithson is one of the most enigmatic artists of the late 20th century. Robert smithson s earthwork spiral jetty 1970 is located at rozel point peninsula on the northeastern shore of great salt lake. Before you leave, take one last look at spiral jetty because it will never look the same again. Robert smithson s earthwork sculpture the spiral jetty was done in 1970.
We cant save smithsons spiral jetty, and it would be. A loud abrasive buzzing bellows from the nightstand and i raise my head, only to be blinded by. The film was shot by smithson and his wife nancy holt, and funded by virgina dawn and douglas christmas. The mythic scale of history and labor at spiral jetty. Download now robert smithson has been one of the most influential and revolutionary artists since world war ii. In 1972, smithson made a film about the jetty, also titled spiral jetty, rife with historical images intended to situate the. I visited spiral jetty in 20, as part of the land art trip run by gerson zevi to take artists around those canonical examples of the movement located in the deserts of the american southwest. Robert smithson was born in rutherford, new jersey in 1938.
Pdf robert smithson download full pdf book download. The spiral jetty is an earthwork sculpture by the late robert smithson. The source of robert smithsons spiral the new yorker. Reviewing robert smithson available for download and read online in other formats. Where the spiral in spiral jetty came fromwhat things inspired ithas always been a kind of riddle for students of smithsons work. The weather, the lake levels, the salt crystals, and even the people who experience the artwork with you all make spiral jetty different each time you see it. Download robert smithson has been one of the most influential and revolutionary artists since world war ii. As if that massive construction were not enough, smithson s project also includes a poemlike essay and an avantgarde short film. As the great salt lake dries up, spiral jetty may be marooned. In 1970 during the construction of the jetty, robert smithson wrote and directed a 32minute color film, spiral jetty. Robert smithsons spiral jetty is an everchanging work of land art.
Spiral jetty, robert smithson the monumental earthwork spiral jetty 1970 was created by artist robert smithson and is located off rozel point in the north arm of great salt lake. Spiral jetty serves as a site from which to view the surroundings the prehistoric environment that smithson selected for it. Oral history interview with robert smithson, 1972 july 1419. Daniel terdiman cnet rozel point, utahthe highest tech thing ive. Occasionally submerged by the fluctuating water level in the lake, it is made from 6,500 tons of basalt, earth and salt. Incidentally, there was somebody at columbia who claimed that i was related to him, that all the smithsons were related, you know, to the founder of the smithsonian institution, as a matter of fact. In 1999, the estate of robert smithson donated the sculpture to dia art foundation, new york. Robert smithson, spiral jetty 1970 i asked kelly kivland, a curator at dia art foundation, which owns spiral jetty, what this means for the artists vision. Smithson grew up in new jersey, and moved to new york in the 1950s to study at the art students league and the brooklyn museum school. Nov 28, 20 robert smithson s land art made on the great salt lake collage of his spiral jetty film and recent footage from a visit there. The spiral is ubiquitous in modern art, forming a link between. Information from its description page there is shown below. Spiral jetty is an earthwork sculpture constructed in april 1970 that is considered to be the most important work of american sculptor robert smithson. Spiral jetty by robert smithson on curiator, the worlds biggest collaborative art collection.
Robert smithsons earthwork, spiral jetty 1970, an icon of the land art movement of the 1960s and 1970s, is located on the northern shores of utahs great salt lake. As stewards of spiral jetty, dia is committed to recording changes to the work over time through photographic documentation. Using over six thousand tons of black basalt rocks and earth from the site, smithson formed a coil 1,500 feet long and 15 feet wide that winds counterclockwise off the shore into the water. Robert smithsons monumental spiral jetty 1970 is a 1,500footlong coil of earth and basalt that extends into the water from the northern shore of utahs great salt lake. Read and learn for free about the following article. Robert smithson biography robert smithson on artnet. Now with its reappearance, this book is especially timely, historical and memorable. The monumental earthwork spiral jetty 1970 was created by artist robert smithson and is located off rozel point in the north arm of great salt lake. An aerial view of robert smithsons spiral jetty in utah, taken by a camera attached to a latex weather balloon from about 800 feet in the air. The spirals coil is 1,500 feet long and approximately 15 feet wide. Smithson s film spiral jetty was completed later that year, and the third component in this ensemble, an essay also titled the spiral jetty was published in 1972. Robert smithsons spiral jetty faces drought artnet news. Nature is making sars cov2 and covid19 research free. Find highquality spiral jetty stock photos and editorial news pictures from getty images.