Earthworks: Past and Present

Author(s): Robert Hobbs

Source: Art Journal, Vol. 42, No. 3, Earthworks: Past and Present (Autumn, 1982), pp. 191-194
Published by: College Art Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/776576
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Editor's Statement
Past
Earthworks: and Present

t is now a truismof art historythatnew

methodologies parallelnewartmovements.
JacobBurckhardt's amazingly detailed,non-
hierarchical historyof theItalianRenaissance,
in whichfashionsareon a parwithcityfeuds
and processionswith timelessaltarpiecesis
echoed in the Impressionists' emphasison
dailylife in France.WilhelmWorringer's Ab-
straction and Empatby,it has often been
remarked,bears strikingsimilaritiesto Die :
Bruicke's relianceon thetribalartsdiscovered
byErnstLudwig Kirchner in ethnographic mu-
seums.Similarly, HenriFocillon'sprosep o e m#
TheLifeof Formsin Art,a Bergsonian affir-
mationof vitalismmanifested in trailingsen-
suous rhythms,is contemporaneous, in its
Englishtranslation, withtheformative yearsof
theAbstract Expressionists andparallelstheir
beliefin the powerof paintto communicate
andrevealthe mostprofoundaspectsof exis-
tence.Andeveninthe1960s,a rapport between
new approachesto art historyand art was
establishedwhen GeorgeKublerwroteThe
Shape of Time. For manyMinimalists, that
workbecameanindispensable sourcebecause
it sharedtheirinterestin riddingartofbiologi-
cal metaphors, whichtheywerereplacing with
analogiesto mathematics andsystems.Ineach
of theseexamples,artandhistorysharesimilar
concerns;one mightevenmakea supposition
about their being part of a generalperiod
style,exceptthatperiodstylessuggestZeit-
geists,whichin turnimplyimmanent causation
and evendeterminism. Whetherthe newart
influencedthehistoryor viceversais of little
importanceto thisissueon Earthworks: Past
and Present.Ofcentralimportance, however,
is the realizationthatartmovements andhis-
torical approachesfrequentlyhaveworked in
tandem.Andthe presentissue,in its entirety, Asphalt
Rundown, byRobert
1969.Rome,Italy.Photograph Smithson, Estateof
courtesy
intendsto be a newapproach. RobertSmithson.
Fall 1982 191
 Il
Less a methodology, though,thana new classified totherelations
according between structedan elaboratenew formof dialectic
epistemological assumption aboutthena- them.In bothfields,therelationsareto sculpture termed Sites/Nonsites.Punning
tureof art,thisissueon Earthworks presentsa be thoughtof as somehow primary,the "sight,"Smithsonturnedthree-dimensional
relativelyrecentapproach to theartobject,an relataassecondary.' renditionsof two-dimensional perspective into
approach thatdeniesthetraditionally conceived displacedboundary markers thatrefertoactual
workof artits customary autonomy becauseit Evenat firstglance,this approachseems siteslocatedoutsidemuseums andartgalleries.
viewsart moreas interactive systemsthanas impossibleto applyto thevisualarts.Afterall, The art objectceases to be autonomous in
isolatedexamples,moreas historical artifacts one mightcavil,thevisualartsarepredicated Smithson's art;it becomesa pointof reference.
thanasicons,andmoreinthelightofcontextu- on objects.Without an artobjecttherewould Therelationship betweenseeingandthinking is
alismthanof formalism. be no art.Sohowcanonetakea contextualist underscored in theseworkswhichcauseob-
Increasingly, in the past one and a half approachthat places relationships between serversto reflecton a distantsite.
decades,theterm"context" hasbeenusedas objectsabovetheobjectsthemselves? Andhow Although Smithson is closeto Conceptual Art
a formof approbation and"formalism" as a canone dispensewiththefactthatgreatworks in theNonsites, he stillemphasizes objects.The
meansof denigration. A contextual approach of art are unique,individual testamentsof a Conceptual artiststriedto refutetheimportance
is one in whicha workof artaccruesmeaning supremesensibility? Beforeexaminingways of art objectsand to unmaskthe ideaof the
when examinedfrom a numberof vantage thisapproachcanactuallybe of benefitto art impoverished objectby developing theformof
points:historical,political,economic.Theap- historiansandevenenablethemto conceiveof documentary evidence. Whiletheleastsophisti-
proachappearsto be Marxist, andit doeshave an entirerangeof systems,landworks,and catedreallythought theywerefinallyexpunging
affiliationswithMarxismin its emphasison processionalareasas art, it is beneficialto artof materialistdross,themoreknowledgeable
extra-artistic
concerns,butunlikeMarxism, it look atinnovations of recentart. recognizedthattypeface,paper,and photo-
does notassertanabsoluteeconomicbase.In graphsare all objects.Theimportance of the
contrasttoformalism, whichfocusesonquality, tartingin theearlysixtieswithMinimalism, Conceptualists liesin theirrelianceon systems,
significantform,sensuoussurfaces,andpres- continuingin the late sixtiesand early relationships, andcontext.In contrastto for-
ence, contextualism is moretraditionally his- seventieswith earthart and Conceptual Art, malistcolorfieldpainterswhocreatedopen-
toricalin emphasizing thematrixin whichart artistshavereformulated the epistemological endedworksthatcouldpotentially meanany-
is madeandseen. basesfor conceivingandassimilating art.The thing,everything,and nothing,the Concep-
Thecontextualist approach,of course,has Minimalistsattemptedto reduce art to an tualistsspecifiedmeaning through labels,prop-
a source in Structuralism, but it also has absolutesine qua non;theywishedto ridit of ositions,andmechanically conceived evidence.
definiteaffinitieswith ecologysince it, like residualillusionismand to makeworksas Theirworkswereintendedto be catalysts for
ecology,is based on a beliefin interactive close to objectsas possible.Becomingdumb, experiencing, notthelocusof an experience.
systems.External individualelementscanaffect static,andgeometric,theirsculptures, which A Conceptualist work,like a pebbledropped
a system,butthey,in turn,areaffectedbythat atfirstseemedso veryobjectlike, tended,after on a stillpond,causesreverberations thatcon-
system.Toviewonewithouttheotheris to fail carefulstudy,to denytheirverymateriality as tinueafterthefirstexposure totheart,whilethe
to comprehend therangeof either.Considering theybecamesubjectsfor phenomenological formalistworkrequiresconstantandcareful
the ecologicalnatureof context,it is notsur- investigation. RobertMorris'Column,a case viewing.Inonea network or ananalogy setsoff
prisingthatGregoryBateson,a specialistin in point,has causedviewersto reassessthe an experience,in theothertheworkimposes
ecologyandcybernetics, is animportant advo- waysartis frequently assumedto bemorethan its presenceandalsoits separateness.
cate of contextualism. According to Bateson, anobjecteventhoughitremainsa distincttype
relationshipsbetweenelementsareto be con- of object. Recent artandcriticismhasoftenfocused
sideredof greatsignificance: EarthartistRobertSmithson,who played on the art context:the galleryspacehas
withMinimalist formsand turnedtheminto becomea forumfor diverseoperations. Vito
Whatis claimedis, first,that in both wry refutationsof logic and visionin such Acconcifantasizedaboutunseenviewersin
anatomy andgrammar thepartsaretobe works as Pointless VanishingPoint, con- Seedbed;DanFlavinhas continuedto set up

192 ArtJournal
 Summer1982. 1.8 acresof wheaton BatteryParkLandfill,New YorkCity.PhotographbyAgnesDenes.
AgnesDenes, Wheatfield-AConfrontation,

neonlightsthatrelateto a specificspace;Hans purviewof landscapearchitecture andhorti- turi providesmodernarchitecture with the

Haackesurveyedart audiencesvisitingSoho cultureandthestepchildof architecture, gar- possibilitiesof creatively ambiguity,
exploiting
galleriesanduptownmuseums; BrianO'Doherty dens have been viewedas agricultureand radicaljuxtapositions, andseeminglycontra-
analyzedtheInternational Styleof interiorde- decorativefringebut not as works of art. dictorydesigns.In the late sixtiesand early
signrecentlyconsidered essentialformuseums Severalyearsagowhenvisiting Japan,I experi- seventiesseveralarthistorians, workingcare-
andcommercial andcommented
galleries about encedthe gardenof Ginkaku-Ji as analogous fullywithold engravings andverbaldescrip-
the art housedin them;andLucyR. Lippard to a MarkRothko.Bothwereembracing and tions, indicatedthe richnessanddiversity of
devotedalmosta decadeto politicalmeansof environmental, onlythegardenwascomposed processionsandfestivalsthroughout theRen-
engendering feministstyle. of livingelementsof the real worldwhilea
style,particularly aissance,BaroqueandNeoclassiceras.
In the seventiesandeightiesthe artobject Rothkoconsistsof paintandcanvas.Recently Contextual studiesin art andhistoryhave
-the GoldenCalfof aestheticpleasure,the manyhistorians suchasWilliam Howard Adams, continuedinto the seventies.Whetheror not
focusof collectors' andthetraditional DavidCoffin,JudithColton,RobertHarbison,
interests, Stonehengeis a giantsolarcalendarremains
locusof study-no longermaintains its unas- ElizabethMcDougall, NaomiMiller,Elizabeth of lessimportance thanthecontextual approach
sailableposition.Moreandmoretheartobject, B. Moynihan, andDoraWiebenson havebeen used to examineit. Theapproachinformsa
epitomizedby the portableeasel painting,is studying theartifice,arrangement,andpossible numberof works,includingNancyHolt'sSun
beginningto appeara Westerncapitalistic in- cosmologicalassociationsof gardens.Like Tunnels,JamesTurrell's RodenCrater,Walter
vention.It seemedto fulfilla needfora trans- ecologists,theymustpayattention to relation- de Maria's Lightning Field,andVincent Scully's
portable objectofvalue,a receptacleof spiritual ships: betweensculptures,fountains,vistas, Pueblo.Thelast, a remarkable alignment of
beliefsand longingsthatwas differentfrom geometricplans,and particular plants.They ritual,architecture, andgeography, providesa
money,and yet, like money,availableas a emphasizenexusesratherthanisolatedobjects clearunderstanding of a cosmologyverydif-
commodityof exchange.Whilethe artobject and points of interactionratherthan static ferentin its acceptanceof naturefromthe
willstillremainart,andmuseums willcontinue monuments; theyhavebecomesimilarto site- Greeks'impositionon nature.Recently,the
to exhibitspecializedformsof artobjects,art specificartistsin theirmethodology. contextualapproachwasfurthered byMartin
for manyhas alreadyceasedto be frozenin Whilerecentinterestingardens asartenables Filler'sarticle"MosesandMegalopolis" (Art
perpetualobjecthood.Performance andbody us to pinpointa decisivechangeinarthistorical in America,November,1981). By studying
artists,for example,createtemporary works studies,the changewas heraldedin isolated thepowerfulcityplannerandengineerRobert
thatareakinto theaterbutdemand,inthebest studieswhichhadappeared yearsbefore.Vin- Moses,we areableto gaina neededenlarged
works,that the artist-originator also be the centScully'sstillcontroversial TheEarth,the perspectiveon the individualpublicworks
performer. Temple,and theGods(1962)is a remarkable programsundertakenin NewYorkCityand
studyinwhichmeaning
site-specific/contextual surrounding boroughsoverthepastfivedec-
As withart so withhistory:the tyrannyof is a coefficientof place.RobertVenturi's Com- ades.Anothersignificant development thatwill
theartobjectis beginning to be castaside plexityand Contradiction in Architecture of haveimportantramifications for futurework
as historianslook anewat whatmightbe art. the mid-sixtiesdeemphasizes architectureas is the SeattleLandReclamation Project.Asan
Parallelingearthartists,some art historians an isolated,integrated proposition.Eventhough artform,LandReclamation owesitsfirstcogent
havebegunstudyinggardens.Longunderthe he limitshimselfto individual structures,Ven- assessment to RobertSmithson, whoattempted
Fall 1982 193
Newtonand HelenHarrmson, on theCondition
Meditation of theSacramento by LynnLearned.
January1977. SanFrancisco,California.Photograph
River,

to createlargeEarthworks for suchcorpora-in intent,notallareconcerned withreclaiming in Athensthatreinforcedor determined the

tions as Kennecott Copper,HannaCoal,and as artworksnotcurrently underart'spurview; courseof theyearlyPanathenaic festival;
pos-
Minerals Engineeringfrom1971untilhisdeath some dealwithworksreadilyconsideredart: sible landmarks alongtheNilethatrelatedto
in 1973. The idea of art as a recuperative, ancientlandworks,BrunoTaut'sproposals, the journeyof the pharoah'sfuneralcortege;
interactive processandnota mereglossonthe andrecentEarthworks. Animportant corollary conscioussignsof powerinforming thesystems
landscapecertainlyis a resultof his work.In to thisissueis thatcertaintypesof artcannot of damsmakinguptheTennessee Author-
Valley
1978theKingCounty ArtsCommission, be examinedin isolation;indeed,all artgains
Seattle, ity;theSacramentoMeditationsof Helenand
Washington,commissionedartists Herbert bybeingconsideredpartof social,economic, NewtonHarrisonand their relationto the
Bayer,lain Baxter,RichardFleischner,Law- political,literary,andgeographic systems.Itis problemof massirrigationin California's
Great
renceHanson,MaryMiss,RobertMorris,Den- hopedthattheinteractive approachso impor- CentralValley;superhighways, majorland-
nisOppenheim, andBeverly Pepperto reclaim
tant to the studyof landworkswill help to worksof the present;andwaysthe National
significantareasby makingsculpturea park lessenthelogicalpositiviststronghold onmuch Parksystemparticipates in the UnitedStates'
andnotjustanobjectin a park.RobertMorris' arthistoryso thatscholarsmaysee thatcata- conceptof Manifest Destiny.
statementaptlyunderscoresthe significance loguingand describingan objectdoes not
of thiswork.Countering merepreciousobject- constituteknowingthe object;thathistoryis Notes
sculptureswithLandReclamation pieces,hethe believablefiction and the approximate 1 GregoryBateson,Stepstoan EcologyofMind
writes: truth;thatarthistorycan be creativeand,in (NewYork,BallantineBooks,1972),p. 154.
Inshort,muchlikemanufacturing, mas- fact,mustbe creativeif it is to be intelligent; 2 "RobertMorrisKeynote Address"in Earth-
querading as arttoday,large-scale
object thatuniversaltruthis no longera convincing works:LandReclamation as Sculpture,A
sculpturehas abdicated the objectiveof goal; thatone can onlyknowart througha Projectof theKingCounty ArtsCommission
art,whichistheambition fornewstructure specificcontextandthrougha particular in- SeattleArtMuseum,
(Seattle, 1979),p. 16.
in themostextended sense.Suchan aim teractiveprocessthatdependsas muchon the
lieson theothersideof eithersuperficial assumptions andlimitations of the scholaras RobertHobbsisAssistantProfessor, History
newness foritsownsake,orthepermuta- on theartconsidered. of Art,CornellUniversity
and Curatorof
tionof desiccatedmodernistideas.2 In thefuture,it is hoped,moreinteractive, Contemporary Art,HerbertF.Johnson
Museum
relationalstudieswill be made.Suchstudies of Art.HeorganizedtheRobertSmithson
Like LandReclamation thispres- will,of necessity,seekoutnewareasforinves-
sculpture, currentlyon tourin Europe
retrospective
entissueon Earthworks to reclaim tigationand turninto art certainperipheral
attempts and is authorof RobertSmithson:Sculpture.
as art gardens,constructions, granarybins, worksthathavebeenregardedas morethan
While engineeringand less than art. Topicsthat
gullies,andlandterracings.
fortifications,
all essaysincludedin theissuearerevisionist cometo mindconcernaspectsof cityplanning

194 ArtJournal