Date of Award
12-2024
Degree Type
Creative Project
Degree Name
Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA)
Department
Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Committee Chair(s)
OLE SLEIPNESS
Committee
OLE SLEIPNESS
Committee
DANIELLA HIRSCHFELD
Committee
KIRK HUFFAKER
Abstract
This thesis project recognizes Robert Smithson’s contribution to the fields of art and landscape architecture with a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places for Spiral Jetty. The nomination was completed with support from the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, Dia Art Foundation, and Holt/Smithson Foundation.
Spiral Jetty is considered a highly influential work of the Land art genre. At Rozel Point Smithson constructed a 1,500-foot-long and 15-foot-wide earthwork of site-sourced basalt rock and soil. It extends from the shore approximately 600 feet before collapsing twice in a counterclockwise spiral. Smithson carefully selected the site where the earthwork would be in conversation with its environment, the appearance fluctuating as conditions around it changed. The unique post-industrial setting, in a desolate area, provided an exceptional place for Smithson to explore concepts of scale, time and entropy. Spiral Jetty has inspired generations of artists and landscape architects.
Recommended Citation
Reid, Amy, "REFRAMING THE LANDSCAPE: ROBERT SMITHSON'S SPIRAL JETTY" (2024). All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present. 59.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports2023/59
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