How Do You Conserve Robert Smithson’s ‘Spiral Jetty’? - NYTimes.com
In 1972, a year before his death in a plane crash at 35, the artist Robert Smithson wrote, “I am for an art that takes into account the direct effect of the elements as they exist from day to day.” And with the creation of his greatest work — “Spiral Jetty,” the huge counterclockwise curlicue of black basalt rock that juts into the Great Salt Lake in rural Utah — he certainly put that conviction to the test.
As part of a conservation effort, the Dia Art Foundation is working to systematically document Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” over time.
Spiral Jetty auto-reblog. Additionally, while it’s unfortunate that the elements would cause the work to deteriorate, in my view that is the point. The whole thing was underwater until recently, so I say go with God and let nature do what it will. Earth works are fundamentally about working with the Earth, not against it. If Dia wants to document Spiral Jetty over time, that’s fine, but as with most art, they should look with their eyes and not with their hands.
