This is the fifth volume in a series that builds upon Dia Art Foundation's 'Artists on Artists' lectures. The contributors to 'Artists on Robert Smithson' engage with Smithson's work in myriad ways: Matthew Buckingham's essay highlights Smithson's preoccupation with the ways that histories of the earth are constructed and contested; Abraham Cruzvillegas considers Smithson's work with broken glass and architecture; Mark Dion's didactic approach to the life and work of the artist recounts the conceptual and evolutionary conditions that led to his birth and development; Teresita Fernández confronts the limitations of dominant histories of place, art and the monumental; Trevor Paglen considers Smithson's iconic spiral and his fascination with natural history; Rayyane Tabet weaves together a history of basalt that reveals themes of colonialism, surveillance and strife; and finally, engaging with the science fiction canon and its cinematic conventions, Diana Thater provides a close reading of Smithson's Spiral Jetty film.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.