Conceptual Art- Land Art


       
How it all began:"Robert Smithson was born in Passaic, New Jersey, on January 2, 1938. In 1953, as a high-school student, he won a scholarship to the Art Students League of New York, where he studied in the evenings for the next two years, also taking classes at the Brooklyn Museum Art School in 1956. Smithson’s first solo exhibition was in 1959, at the Artists Gallery, New York. In 1964, he began to produce what he considered his first mature works of writing and sculpture." http://www.diaart.org/sites/page/59/1602

Robert
Smithson worked outside. He used nature to make designs, such as the swirl. He also used nature to place mirrors in random places. The mirrors would reflect the environment. A lot of the colors that Robert used for his artwork were really just neutral colors. Natural colors that we see in the environment. Robert didn't like the idea of getting money for his masterpieces, which is why he used nature to create art. He tried to get away from all the raucous. I do appreciate that about him dearly. It definitely makes him different from all the other artists. I think he's one of my favorite artists. To me that means that he really is passionate for art. I love the idea of using nature to create art, because i love nature. Robert did it in a way that didn't affect the environment.
           One of my favorite art pieces of Robert Smithson is the 'Spiral Jetty'. He used salt crystals, basalt rocks, mud, earth and water on the northeastern shore in the Great Salt Lake in Utah to create the Spiral Jetty. I think that Robert was a geophill. Meaning, he had love for the earth. When constructing his art, he was very careful with the environment. Another masterpiece of his that I admire is the ones where he literally uses mirrors in the environment. To him it meant that the mirrors were reflecting the environment and the person's place in the environment.

His artwork...

1. Spiral Jetty

2. Mirrors In The Environment