Robert smithsons spiral jetty, vanished clark lunberry. The mythic scale of history and labor at spiral jetty. From 1970 onward smithson made many trips around the united states searching for sites for his workthe florida keys, texas quarries, salton sea in california, maine, and. Sometime in the late 1960s, the artist robert smithson took a trip to southwestern ohio.
This comprehensive publication considers smithsons sculpture spiral jetty in relation to its eponymous companionsa text work and a film. Exploded view robert smithsons spiral jetty cinema scope. Spiral jetty is an earthwork sculpture on the northeastern shores of the great salt lake, utah, united states. Dia center for the arts announces gift of robert smithson. Although it was submerged when we checked in july, my college senior sister said it was visible from the hill above it when she took a first date out to see it a couple of weeks ago talk about a litmus test. Holts film shows the artist robert smithson, the gallerist virginia dwan, the italian photographer gianfranco gorgoni, and one yettobeidentifiedperson as they prepare for the construction of smithsons iconic earthwork spiral jetty 1970, a giant coil of black basalt rocks that juts into great salt lake at rozel point. In his 1970 film spiral jetty, smithson reads the same list aloud in a bland. Unbeknownst to him, the film and photographs would be the only way in which viewers would see spiral jetty for almost three decades. Before that, the work was hard to find, and when you found it there was nothing to see.
The spiral jetty is massive land art created by artist robert smithson. Learning to live on the spiral jetty image journal. The boulders only came to light again in 2002, now in a white salt crust. Since 2012, a geospatial aerial photographer has documented spiral jetty twice a year, in may and october. 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 water levels rise and fall with the tides or amount of rain, smithsons great spiral also changes. Smithson built a masterpiece from local materials, one that spirals counterclockwise into the lake and appears or is submerged with fluctuations in the. 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. Holtsmithson foundation friday films spiral jetty on april 10.
After its completion, the spiral jetty disappeared under the surface of the lake for almost thirty years due to the rising water level. Robert smithson, spiral jetty, 1970, rozel point, great salt lake, utah, 1500 if unwound x 15 foot spiral of basalt, sand, and soil holt. The film also functions as a history of the spiral jetty itself, visualizing the labor and time invested in its construction. Robert smithson spiral jetty 1970 thursday, july 26, 2007 this film, made by the artist robert smithson, is a poetic and process minded film depicting a portrait of his renouned earth work the spiral jetty, as it juts into the shallows off the shore of utahs great salt lake.
The fractured rocky landscape and changing water levels of the great salt. Spiral jetty 1970 smithson most celebrated work is the spiral jetty which was constructed on the shores of the great salt lake in utah in 1970. Robert smithsons monumental earthwork spiral jetty 1970 has been acquired by dia center for the arts as a gift from the estate of the artist. About two years later, the level returned to normal. This area provides dark skies and a good view of the milky way. The short documentary utah sequences, previously thought to be lost. The spiral jetty created in 1970 by robert smithson. Fifty years after smithson built spiral jetty, utah sequences sheds light on holt and. It is combination of rocks and earth that was hauled by truck from the shore and arranged into the form of a coil in the water off of. Standing apart along the northeast shore of the great salt lake is a huge earthworks project, boulders and potholes, clinging brine and mirrored sky, which the film documents, as it moves back geologically to dinosaur history. Nonintervention for the artistic concept anna toptchi spiral jetty is a work conceived and installed by robert smithson in 1970.
In 1970 he completed partially buried woodshed, kent, ohio, and the spiral jetty in the great salt lake, along with a film of the same name that revolves around that work. An applauded new york intellectual hires a young archivist to whitewash her late psychologist fathers reputation by eliminating a forbidding, potentially incriminating paper trail. Robert smithson spiral jetty film 1970 origine 32 minutes color. After years of only brief, periodic reappearances, a major drought brought spiral jetty to the surface again in 2002. Rising lake levels beginning in the 1980s with the historic high in 19861987 at 4,211. Where the spiral in spiral jetty came fromwhat things inspired ithas always been a kind of riddle for students of smithsons work. His death would roughly coincide with a period of submersion, during which the jetty was covered by the water level of the. Robert smithson american, 19381973 is widely held as one of the most influential and significant artists of the 20th century. Nearby attractions golden spike national historical park. 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.
Traveling from soho to the southwest on quintessentially american road trips, the troublemakers found larger canvases on which to create landmarks, including nancy holts sun tunnels and her husband smithsons spiral jetty, 1,500 feet of basalt and mud unfurling into the krillred northern waters of the great salt lake. Holts film shows the artist robert smithson, the gallerist virginia dwan, the italian photographer gianfranco gorgoni, and one yettobeidentifiedperson as they prepare for the construction of smithsons iconic earthwork spiral jetty, a giant coil of black basalt rocks that juts into great salt lake at rozel point. Made of black basalt rocks, salt crystals, earth, and water, spiral jetty is a 1,500footlong coil, measuring approximately 15 feet wide, that stretches into the lake. Upon completion of the project, smithson realized that he had constructed the jetty when the water level of the lake was unusually low. Recent droughts have lead to a sustained reemergence since 2002. Smithson documented the construction of the sculpture in a 32minute color film also titled spiral jetty. The jetty is a sitespecific work, meant to interact with changing conditions of the surrounding water, land, and atmosphere. In fact, two years after its completion, spiral jetty completely disappeared under water. The film spiral jetty is a portrait of smithsons monumental earthwork of the same name at rozel point in the great salt lake, utah. On robert smithson, film, and finding the way the spiral jetty is back.
Over the years it has accumulated a patina of salt crystals when the level of the lake is low. Shot six years before the completion of sun tunnels 197376, her major. Robert smithson designed and directed the construction of his iconic work the spiral jetty in april 1970. Depending on your vantage, or the time of the year, spiral jetty looks like a shell, or a fiddlehead fern, or a road leading back to itself. Spiral jetty, robert smithson electronic arts intermix. Drought and rain govern how this work of art is seen. As the great salt lake dries up, spiral jetty may be.
Completed in 1970, spiral jetty is recognized by most art historians and critics as. Alongside aerial footage of spiral jetty is a poetic sequence of. The jetty is an old oil rig that serves as a great prop for landscapes. Built in april 1970 by american sculptor robert smithson, the earthwork sculpture, which is also referred to as earth art or environmental art, is a counterclockwise coil constructed of mud, salt crystals and basalt rocks that is 1,500 ft long and 15 ft wide. Alongside aerial footage of spiral jetty is a poetic sequence. Il est presente ici des extraits du film realise par robert smithson. Robert smithsons spiral jetty 1970 is a sitespecific sculpture that is located at rozel point on the northeastern shore of the great salt lake.
Using black basalt rocks and earth from the site, the artist created a coil 1,500 feet long and 15 feet wide that stretches out counterclockwise into the translucent red water. Nancy holts utah sequences 1970 the utah museum of. The source of robert smithsons spiral the new yorker. Look for small white signs directing you to spiral jetty. His writings, drawings, sculpture, and, most famously, his earthworks have become touchstones for contemporary artists for their rigorous artistic and theoretical investigations and for the way in which they married concept and form. The spiral jetty is robert smithsons monumental earthwork 1970 is located on the great salt lake in utah. That film would be the only film shown in the cave. His major film in title and in function is synonymous with his earthworks masterpiece, spiral jetty 1970. Only two years after its completion the spiral jetty disappeared beneath the lakes surface for decades. His death would roughly coincide with a period of submersion, during which the jetty was. As stewards of spiral jetty, dia is committed to recording changes to the work over time through photographic documentation. Spiral jetty, the bestknown earthwork of the new yorkbased artist robert smithson 19381973, is one of the most powerful works of public art in utah. Smithson made the film spiral jetty on returning to new york from utah, after completing his landmark earthwork of the same name in april. The film smithson made that so dramatically documents the genesis of spiral jetty, the shots of it from all angles and as a souring eagles eye high above iteagle and helicopter turning in a spiral, mimicking in the air both the jetty and the mythical whirlpool thats said in ancient lore to.
My interest in land art began in childhood, when i first saw photos of robert smithsons spiral jetty, then newly built, in a magazine. Some art historians consider the spiral jetty to be the. While located in a relatively barren, unpopulated place, smithson chose the site not only because of the vast surrounding landscape, but with reference to nearby. Cinema scope exploded view robert smithsons spiral jetty.
It is a documentary of the construction of the jetty and a portrait of the completed jetty itself. It is a 1,500footlong, 15footwide, and 3foottall dirt dike, built using 6,650 tons of basalt rock excavated from the site. The spiral jetty is 1500feet long, 15 feet wide and is one of smithsons most recognized pieces, that now attracts people from around the globe. Robert smithson in utah sequences a film by nancy holt. Along with aerial shots of spiral jetty is a sequence of images of the artist running on the sculp ture. In his 1970 film spiral jetty, smithson reads the same list aloud in a bland monotone, as if sounding the drone that remains when all things are gone. A rediscovered nancy holt documentary from 1970 hyperallergic. 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. Robert smithson spiral jetty, 1970 robert smithsons spiral jetty.
By the time i was old enough to visit the 1,500 foot rock, earth and salt crystal coil, it had long been submerged by the waters of the great salt lake, which rose to their normal levels two years after the works completion in 1970. Spiral jetty 1970 is an earthwork in the form of a 1,500footlong 460 m, 15footwide 4. This spiral mound of earth and boulders stretches about 457 meters into the lake and is about 4. Located on the great salt lake in utah, this pivotal landmark in postwar american art constitutes a major addition to dias collection, which also. Alongside aerial footage of spiral jetty is a poetic sequence of the artist running along the spiral to rest at its innermost coil. A new documentary sheds light on the troublemakers of.
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