Robert Smithson
American, 1938-1973
Study for Earthwork Proposal
INV-1468
Robert Smithson
American, 1938-19731969
Study for Earthwork Proposal
Robert Smithson American, 1938-1973 →drawings (visual works)prints and drawing
Date
1969
Medium
Graphite, fiber-tipped pen and colored crayons on cream wove paper, laid down on wood pulp board
Dimensions
45.2 × 60.8 cm (17 13/16 × 23 15/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Lannan Foundation
Interested in the outdoor, natural environment as an alternative site to the interior, decontextualizing space of museums, Smithson produced this earthwork study as a document of one moment in the continual process of environmental flux. The drawing depicts a partial view of one hundred glass squares embedded in a mound of earth. The placement of the glass on the ground surface outlines the general form of the mound though the parallel, horizontal arrangement of the squares contrasts with the mound's convex irregularity. The reflective yet transparent nature of the glass dissolves the boundary separating sky and land by integrating reflected light and color with earthen forms and substance.
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