Save "Spiral Jetty"!
The artist Robert Smithson died in 1973 when a small plane malfunctioned while he was filming his masterpiece, "Spiral Jetty," from above. The piece is literally a landmark of conceptual art, a 1500 foot long, 15 foot wide counterclockwise coil, formed from mud, salt crystals, and rocks, that juts into Great Salt Lake. It's also one of the great works of mysticism in the 20th century, intended by Smithson to "heal" those who engaged with it. And beyond that, it's beautiful. But now it's facing its end. In Afghanistan, the Taliban blew up the Bamiyan Buddhists with a more abstract god in mind. Same principle here, only instead of fundamentalist Islam lighting the dynamite, it's fundamentalist capitalism -- the plan, it seems, is to drill for oil in Great Salt Lake, a project that will destroy "Spiral Jetty" and endanger the lake. Sound like a bad idea? Then save "Spiral Jetty."
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The artist Robert Smithson died in 1973 when a small plane malfunctioned while he was filming his masterpiece, “Spiral Jetty,” from above. The piece is literally a landmark of conceptual art, a 1500 foot long, 15 foot wide counterclockwise coil, formed from mud, salt crystals, and rocks, that juts into Great Salt Lake. It’s also one of the great works of mysticism in the 20th century, intended by Smithson to “heal” those who engaged with it. And beyond that, it’s beautiful. But now it’s facing its end. In Afghanistan, the Taliban blew up the Bamiyan Buddhists with a more abstract god in mind. Same principle here, only instead of fundamentalist Islam lighting the dynamite, it’s fundamentalist capitalism — the plan, it seems, is to drill for oil in Great Salt Lake, a project that will destroy “Spiral Jetty” and endanger the lake. Sound like a bad idea? Then save “Spiral Jetty.”
