Tues. Sept. 23 The Sabbatical Journey, Rhonda Smith, Chair Department of Contemporary Art and Theater, Shepherd University. Spiral Jetty in Utah Today I drove into Utah and visited Golden Spike National Historic Site nps.gov/gosp/index.htm on my way to the Spiral Jetty created by Robert Smithson in the 1970. diaart.org/sites/main/spiraljetty A team of men using dump trucks and bull dozers managed to create the jetty in just three weeks. “Smithson.1 The artist chose to create Spiral Jetty in Great Salt Lake due in part to the lake’s unusual physical qualities, including the reddish coloration of the water caused by microbes, as well as how salt deposits crystallized on the black basalt rocks, formed from molten lava of nearby extinct volcanoes, that were scattered along the peninsula.” (Reprinted from the DIA website) Due to rising water levels the work was submerged in 1972 and remained underwater until droughts in 2002 when the water levels began to shrink. Today the water is far removed from the jetty it shimmers in the distance. While I was at the site I saw two small groups walking to or from the shimmering water in the distance. I walked the spiral both on the jetty and alongside. It feels small, yet this iconic work is visible from 423 miles in space!
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 03:14:25 +0000