PHOTOGRAPHS
Smithson, Robert Irving
U.S. (1938 - 1973)
Torn Photograph from the Second Stop (Rubble). Second Mountain of Six Stops on a Section
1970
Photolithograph
21 7/8 x 21 7/8 in. (55.6 x 55.6 cm) image size (as mounted);26 1/2 x 25 x 1 1/2 in. (67.3 x 63.5 x 3.8 cm) frame size
Gift of Matthew Kangas, in honor of R. Joseph and Elaine Monsen
FA 95.12

Robert Smithson’s Torn Photograph from the Second Stop (Rubble). Second Mountain is the result of his examination of the regeneration possibilities of a work of art. The material in the photograph was taken from a section of a larger body of work called 6 Stops on a Section. In 6 Stops, Smithson took portions of earth from six locations, and thus created a “non-site” where the material was taken from. His non-site byproducts were then installed and shown in a gallery, and became the source for further art projects. Torn Photograph from the Second Stop (Rubble). Second Mountain is an example of how one art project can produce several new forms with the original material. The reproductive nature of Smithson’s work echoes the cycles of nature he continually investigated.

-- Label copy for Shifting Ground: Transformed Views of the American Landscape, February 10 to August 20, 2000.

Robert Smithson is best known for being a pioneer of land art, a movement that emerged in the late 1960s that created art at outdoor sites, using elements of the landscape itself as materials rather than introducing foreign objects to the site. In his art, Smithson developed a concept of sites and non-sites, the former being works that were wedded to specific outdoor locations and the latter being works that could be shown in any suitable venue. In this work, an example of a non-site, Smithson demonstrates the usefulness of photography in constructing a visual narrative of a site that can be reproduced in different places at different times. Smithson tore this photograph, using the material of the photograph itself to mimic the content and create a site of its own.

-- Label copy for Videowatercolors: Carel Balth Among His Contemporaries, October 15, 2011, to January 22, 2012.