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Micro-Landscapes of the Anthropocene

spiral jetty

Spiral Jetty is an earthwork sculpture constructed in April 1970 by American sculptor Robert Smithson, who documented its construction in a 32 minute color film by the same title. It was built on the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah entirely of mud, salt crystals, and basalt rocks, it forms a 1,500-foot-long, 15-foot-wide counterclockwise coil jutting from the shore of the lake. It resonnates strongly with the notion of 'eco-complex' and human representations of water, water symbolism. Smithson reportedly chose the Rozen Point site based on the blood-red colour of the water and its connection with the primordial sea. The red hue of the water is due to the presence of salt-tolerant bacteria and algae that thrive in the extreme 27 per cent salinity of the lake's north arm, which was isolated from freshwater sources by the building of a causeway by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1959. 6,650 tons of rock and earth were hauled into the lake. Phillips said. “I don’t think he had done any geology work or anything on it. He just had in his mind what it should look like.… He just had the eye for it. I assume it was the artist in him.” Since initial construction, those interested in its fate have dealt with questions of proposed changes in land use in the area surrounding the sculpture. It encapsulates the notions of deep time that are also present in the crystal cave picture located in the Marginal Worlds photo essay, as well as the notion of bodies of water 'cultivating life' in the watery worlds photo essay.

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1. spiral jetty Spiral Jetty is an earthwork sculpture constructed in April 1970 by American sculptor Robert Smithson, who documented its construction in a 32 minute color film by the same title. It was built on the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah entirely of mud, salt crystals, and basalt rocks, it forms a 1,500-foot-long, 15-foot-wide counterclockwise coil jutting from the shore of the lake. It resonnates strongly with the notion of 'eco-complex' and human representations of water, water symbolism. Smithson reportedly chose the Rozen Point site based on the blood-red colour of the water and its connection with the primordial sea. The red hue of the water is due to the presence of salt-tolerant bacteria and algae that thrive in the extreme 27 per cent salinity of the lake's north arm, which was isolated from freshwater sources by the building of a causeway by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1959. 6,650 tons of rock and earth were hauled into the lake. Phillips said. “I don’t think he had done any geology work or anything on it. He just had in his mind what it should look like.… He just had the eye for it. I assume it was the artist in him.” Since initial construction, those interested in its fate have dealt with questions of proposed changes in land use in the area surrounding the sculpture. It encapsulates the notions of deep time that are also present in the crystal cave picture located in the Marginal Worlds photo essay, as well as the notion of bodies of water 'cultivating life' in the watery worlds photo essay.