Robert Smithson was an American artist who was a key figure in 20th century environmental art. He moved from painting to minimalism and then to land art, using materials new to the art world to explore visuals in new ways. His most famous work is Spiral Jetty. Smithson believed that deformities in the land were art and that human or natural manipulation could benefit the landscape. He died tragically in a plane crash at the age of 35.
Robert Smithson was an American minimalist and environmental artist. He was a key figure in 20th century environmental art, also known as land art or earthworks. In addition to the artwork he has produced, Robert Smithson has written extensively on the subject. His essays on art challenged traditional methods and ideas and substantially influenced and changed the theory of art in the decades that followed.
Robert Smithson was born in New Jersey, USA on January 2, 1938. His initial interests were drawing and painting, which he studied at the Art Students League of New York. Smithson’s early artwork reflected his primary focus on painting the human body and the themes of science fiction and fantasy.
In the early 1960s he became interested in minimalism, an art movement that began after World War II. This type of art was usually visual or musical, and was simplified to draw attention to the more fundamental characteristics of the artwork.
At the same time that minimalism was gaining popularity, Robert Smithson moved away from his immersion in the art of the human body. Instead, he used materials new to the art world to explore the visuals in new ways. He was particularly interested in the concept of entropy and the sculpture of crystalline structures.
During the late 1960s, while scouting industrial areas, Robert Smithson became fascinated by watching tons of dirt and rock being dug up. The moment inspired him to create land art. In 1970, he had created one of his most famous works of art: The Partially Buried Woodshed. Later that same year, he finished his most famous work, Spiral Jetty, on the shore of Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Smithson used 1,500 feet (457 meters) of rock, dirt, salt and red algae to create the pier.
Much of Smithson’s interest in land art was based on the idea of deformity in the land. He considered the deformities to be areas that had been agitated by industry, urbanization or natural damage. It was the damaged, or scarred areas that he felt were art. Because of this, Robert Smithson has faced criticism that he, and other similar artists, have further shocked the earth with their artwork. In one essay, Smithson argued that human or natural manipulation could actually benefit the landscape, and that the views of his opponents prevented them from seeing this potential.
Robert Smithson’s artistic career ended tragically at the age of 35 when he died in a plane crash. At the time, he was reviewing a job site in Texas that would be called Amarillo Ramp.
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