151. Spiral Jetty

Spiral Jetty
Great Salt Lake, Utah. U.S. Robert Smithson. 1970 C.E. Earthwork: mud, precipitated salt crystals, rocks, and water coil 

The wind alters the intensity of the water's changing colors, as does the quality of the light and the density of the overhead cloud-cover. As you start to walk the spiral, you enter a kaleidoscope of moaning wind, relentless light, and mercurial water colors.

Form: 

- mud, salt crystals, rocks, water coil 

- on the Great Salt Lake in Utah 

        - this was a very abandoned place, extremely remote 

- used a tractor with native stone to create the jetty 

- 1970

Function: 

- jetties are supposed to be piers, but here it is in the middle of nowhere 

Content: 

- a spiral jetty in the Great Salt Lake

- the artist was very interested in the blood red color of the water due to the presence of the basteria that live in the high salt content 

Context:

- this is an example of Site Art 

        - sometimes referred to as Earth art- is dependent on its location 

        - the original environment must be fully intact to understand the work fully 

        - time = 1970s-present day 

Cross-Cultural Comparisons: 

Spirals and Circular Construction 

Stonehenge