Unfortunately, just three years after making his most famous work, Smithson died in a plane crash whilst doing an aerial survey for his next work, Amarillo Ramp. Partially Buried Woodshed (1970) was another notable example, although the structure has now collapsed, and just a mound of dirt and concrete foundations remains. The 42.6 metre (140 feet) work was a circular form built on the edge of a quarry lake, with half the circle constructed of sand over the water, and the other half a canal dug into the land. Works such as Map Of Broken Clear Glass (Atlantis) (1969) and Eight-Part Piece (Cayuga Salt Mine Project) (1969) are notable examples of his use of industrial materials.īesides Spiral Jetty, other large-scale land art projects included Broken Circle/Spiral Hill (1971) in Emmen, The Netherlands. Around 1968, he began experimenting with land art ideas in industrial sites. Robert Smithson (1938-1973) began his art career as a painter, before moving on to sculpture using glass and neon lights to explore light as an art material. While the spiral is a common shape found in nature, such as the shell of a snail, this spiral has the man-made Archimedian shape that features constant distance between lines. It’s elegant, but in an obtrusive way that doesn’t quite fit with the natural world around it. It’s ambitious and daring, yet totally pointless as a jetty. Spiral Jetty was one of the most influential works that kicked off the land art movement, moving art from the gallery to the outdoors. Nearly half a kilometre long, and 4.6 metres (15 feet) wide, Smithson called his work “the work of the decade.” The state of Utah adopted the work as the state’s official work of land art in 2017. The result was one of the greatest pieces of land art ever built. Smithson decided it needed adjusting, calling the crew back for another three days to correct the shape. After six days of work, the Jetty had a strange hook shape, looking more like a J-shape than a spiral shape. He was reportedly reluctant to take on the job, as the mud of the building site presented significant challenges for his equipment. Smithson hired construction contractor Bob Philips to handle the heavy lifting. The construction was filmed by Smithson, who released the video, also titled Spiral Jetty. It was constructed from 6650 tons of basalt rock and earth. It was a colossal task that required a team of contractors, 2 dump trucks, a loader and a tractor. Smithson created Spiral Jetty in April of 1970. Smithson chose this location because of the red-pink colour, caused by an abundance of salt-tolerant algae and bacteria. The site chosen for Spiral Jetty was the pink side of Great Salt Lake, near Rozel Point. While it is sometimes submerged under the salty water, other times it is available for visitors to visit, and even walk on. Spiral Jetty, created by American artist Robert Smithson, is a 460 metre (1,500 feet) long jetty that spirals out counterclockwise into the striking pink waters of the lake. On the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah is one of the most famous and important pieces of land art in the world.
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