Spiral Jetty Pony Party

Public art, particularly sculpture in public spaces, is the most democratic of art forms: no admission required, you just have to go and look at it.

Today, a few pics of perhaps the most obscure public work (because it is generally submerged)–Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson.  Constructed in April of 1970, it extends into Great Salt Lake in Utah, and is a bravura work.  Although the lake covered it for about 30 years, by 2004 it had re-emerged due to drought.

For nearly three decades Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” lay underwater in the Great Salt Lake. Since 1999, as drought has lowered the water level, this famous American earth sculpture — a 1,500-foot coil of black basalt rocks — has slowly re-emerged. Now it is completely exposed; the rocks encrusted with white salt crystals are surrounded by shallow pink water in what looks like a vast snow field. [snip]

“The trip to see the artwork brings people to a place they would not normally experience,” said Nancy Holt, Smithson’s widow and executor, who lives in New Mexico. “The ‘Jetty’ is a vortex that draws in everything in the landscape around it.”  

NY Times

Below the fold are some pics I found at photobucket, plus a nifty video.

Open thread: be excellent to each other.  And remember: don’t REC the pony party!

Here’s a video I hope you’ll enjoy:

Any other fans of public sculpture out there?