Paper Summary:

This essay first examines the modern art movement known as "land art" or Earthworks. After explaining the philosophy and techniques used by all Earthwork artists, the essay concludes by evaluating the meaning and significance of the famous Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson. This 1500 foot coil of earth, salt crystal, and rock that extends into the Great Salt Lake is the most famous work of land artist and has multiple meanings and associations that are analyzed in the paper.

From the Paper:

"Earthworks, sometimes referred to as "land art," are a more recent development of modernist art, although they have their roots in thousands of years of cultural activity throughout the world. In that respect Earthworks differs from modern art movements like Impressionism and Expressionism. Stonehenge in England is an example of an ancient form of land art, and in most other nations can be found human alterations of the natural environment for symbolic or religious reasons. The Earthworks movement of the late 1960s and beyond was not the result of religious fervor or mystical devotion, but rather a grand response to art consumerism and insubstantial conceptual art (Hughes 384). Artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Hizer wanted to create huge and timeless rearrangements of the landscape that no one could ignore due to their overwhelming physical presence in the world. That is the nature of the Earthwork movement."

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