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Robert Smithson and Land Art
Robert Smithson and Land Art
POSTED SEPTEMBER 28, 2020
Although Robert Smithson died at the age of only 35, his short career inspired numerous young artists - perhaps more than any other among the generation of artists that emerged in the 1960s. A writer and critic as well as an artist, his interests ranged from entropy to medieval Catholic art to mineralogy to science fiction. His earliest pieces were paintings and collages, but he soon came to focus on sculpture; he responded to the Minimalism and Conceptualism of the early 1960s and he started to expand his work out of galleries and into the landscape. His large-scale sculptures, called Earthworks or Land Art, engaged directly with nature and were created by moving and constructing with vast amounts of soil and rocks. [1,2]
Although Robert Smithson died at the age of only 35, his short career inspired numerous young artists - perhaps more than any other among the generation of artists that emerged in the 1960s. A writer and critic as well as an artist, his interests ranged from entropy to medieval Catholic art to mineralogy to science fiction. His earliest pieces were paintings and collages, but he soon came to focus on sculpture; he responded to the Minimalism and Conceptualism of the early 1960s and he started to expand his work out of galleries and into the landscape. His large-scale sculptures, called Earthworks or Land Art, engaged directly with nature and were created by moving and constructing with vast amounts of soil and rocks. [1,2]
Photo: Smithson's "Partially Buried Woodshed" - Ejpastor
Smithson became interested in the concept of entropy. In thermodynamics, entropy is interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system.* In more general usage, it represents the gradual decline into disorder. In January 1970 Robert Smithson visited Kent State University as part of the School of Art Creative Arts Festival. Initially, he had planned to do a mudflow sculpture, but cold temperatures prevented him from being able to dig the dirt needed for the project. Instead, he created "Partially Buried Woodshed" [above right] using an old woodshed from a former farm on the eastern edge of campus that had recently been acquired by the school. Smithson rented a backhoe and transported 20 truck loads of dirt onto the right side of the woodshed until the center beam cracked, marking the beginning of the structure’s decline. He valued the work at $10,000 and donated it to the university, asking that no changes be made and that the structure be allowed to deteriorate naturally. Shortly after the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings, an anonymous person added the inscription 'MAY 4 KENT 70' with white paint to one of the structure's horizontal beams. The addition of the message helped make the "Partially Buried Woodshed" one of the many memorial sites on campus. [4]
Smithson became interested in the concept of entropy. In thermodynamics, entropy is interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system.* In more general usage, it represents the gradual decline into disorder. In January 1970 Robert Smithson visited Kent State University as part of the School of Art Creative Arts Festival. Initially, he had planned to do a mudflow sculpture, but cold temperatures prevented him from being able to dig the dirt needed for the project. Instead, he created "Partially Buried Woodshed" [above right] using an old woodshed from a former farm on the eastern edge of campus that had recently been acquired by the school. Smithson rented a backhoe and transported 20 truck loads of dirt onto the right side of the woodshed until the center beam cracked, marking the beginning of the structure’s decline. He valued the work at $10,000 and donated it to the university, asking that no changes be made and that the structure be allowed to deteriorate naturally. Shortly after the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings, an anonymous person added the inscription 'MAY 4 KENT 70' with white paint to one of the structure's horizontal beams. The addition of the message helped make the "Partially Buried Woodshed" one of the many memorial sites on campus. [4]
Also, in 1970, Smithson produced his best known Land art work, "Spiral Jetty", "a remarkable coil of rock composed in the colored waters of the shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. [1] It is arguably the most famous piece of Land Art ever created. Below is a photograph of the site from 2004.
Also, in 1970, Smithson produced his best known Land art work, "Spiral Jetty", "a remarkable coil of rock composed in the colored waters of the shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. [1] It is arguably the most famous piece of Land Art ever created. Below is a photograph of the site from 2004.
Land art or earth art is art that is made directly in the landscape, sculpting the land itself into earthworks or making structures in the landscape using natural materials such as rocks or twigs. Though some artists such as Smithson used mechanical earth-moving equipment to make their artworks, other artists made minimal and temporary interventions in the landscape. Richard Long , for example, simply walked up and down until he had made a mark in the earth. Other key land artists include Nancy Holt, Walter de Maria, Michael Heizer and Dennis Oppenheim. Land art was usually documented in artworks using photographs and maps which the artist could exhibit in a gallery. Land artists also made land art in the gallery by bringing in material from the landscape and using it to create installations. [3]
Land art or earth art is art that is made directly in the landscape, sculpting the land itself into earthworks or making structures in the landscape using natural materials such as rocks or twigs. Though some artists such as Smithson used mechanical earth-moving equipment to make their artworks, other artists made minimal and temporary interventions in the landscape. Richard Long , for example, simply walked up and down until he had made a mark in the earth. Other key land artists include Nancy Holt, Walter de Maria, Michael Heizer and Dennis Oppenheim. Land art was usually documented in artworks using photographs and maps which the artist could exhibit in a gallery. Land artists also made land art in the gallery by bringing in material from the landscape and using it to create installations. [3]
In 1973, Robert Smithson died in an aircraft accident while he surveying sites in Texas for another Earthwork. The work "Amarillo Ramp" was completed by his widow and artistic partner, Nancy Holt. Smithson has a following among many contemporary artists. Artists Tacita Dean, Sam Durant, Renée Green, Lee Ranaldo, Vik Muniz, Mike Nelson, and the Bruce High Quality Foundation have all made homages to Smithson's works. In 2017 the Holt/Smithson Foundation was founded to preserve, through public service, the investigative spirit the two artists who "developed innovative methods of exploring our relationship with the planet, and expanded the limits of artistic practice." [4]
In 1973, Robert Smithson died in an aircraft accident while he surveying sites in Texas for another Earthwork. The work "Amarillo Ramp" was completed by his widow and artistic partner, Nancy Holt. Smithson has a following among many contemporary artists. Artists Tacita Dean, Sam Durant, Renée Green, Lee Ranaldo, Vik Muniz, Mike Nelson, and the Bruce High Quality Foundation have all made homages to Smithson's works. In 2017 the Holt/Smithson Foundation was founded to preserve, through public service, the investigative spirit the two artists who "developed innovative methods of exploring our relationship with the planet, and expanded the limits of artistic practice." [4]
*The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that as energy is transferred or transformed, more and more of it is wasted, and that there is a natural tendency of any isolated system to degenerate into a more disordered state - i.e., in the direction of increasing entropy. [5]
Sources: [1] The Art Story , [2] Britannica, [3] Tate Museum website, [4] Wikipedia, [5] Live Science
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