Archive footage of Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty"
The Holt/Smithson Foundation released previously unseen black and white archival footage of the "Spiral Jetty" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Robert Smithson's death on July 20, 1973.
One of the best-known masterpieces of land art, the “Spiral Jetty,” was built by Smithson in 1970 near Rozel Point, in the northeast corner of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The 4,500 meter long counterclockwise coil formwork was made using over 6,000 tonnes of local basalt rock and earth. It is currently owned and supervised by the Dia Art Foundation.
Born in 1938, Smithson considered becoming a field naturalist or zoologist because of his love of natural history and prehistory. He would eventually leave his mark on the landscape through art, and the shape of the “Spiral Jetty” is inspired by the molecular network of salt crystal deposits that fill the lake with salt water.
In the decades since its construction, work has become part of our changing world. It was alternately submerged by high water levels or fully exposed by droughts, as was the case during a particularly severe heat wave in the summer of 2021. The mammoth work has become part of the ever-changing local landscape, almost a justification for Smithson. , who was fascinated by the concept of entropy.
Smithson died at age 35 in a plane crash while inspecting the proposed site for another land artwork, "Amarillo Ramp", on a ranch near Amarillo, Texas. This project was eventually completed by his widow, artist Nancy Holt, with the help of artist Richard Serra and gallerist Tony Shafrazi. The Holt/Smithson Foundation was founded in 2017, just a few years after Holt's death in 2014, with the aim of preserving the legacy of both artists.
A viewer's experience of “Spiral Jetty” differs greatly depending on their point of view. The new selection of unpublished “Spiral Jetty” photos includes a mix of aerial and close-up views. The man shown is not Smithson, but he is believed to be the author.
Source: Artnet News