Robert Smithson quotes - page 2

Robert Smithson was an American sculptor and land artist, best known for his groundbreaking work with earthworks. His most famous piece, the Spiral Jetty, redefined the relationship between art, nature, and landscape. He explored themes of entropy, the environment, and the passage of time in art. Here are 37 of his quotes:

Art history is less explosive than the rest of history, so it sinks faster into the pulverized regions of time. (Robert Smithson)
I am for an art that takes into account the direct effect of the elements as they exist from day to day apart from representation. View quote
Robert Smithson
Some artists imagine they've got a hold on this apparatus, which in fact has got a hold of them. As a result, they end up supporting a cultural prison that is out of their control. View quote
Robert Smithson
A vacant white room with lights is still a submission to the neutral. Works of art seen in such spaces seem to be going through a kind of esthetic convalescence. View quote
Robert Smithson
Art's development should be dialectical and not metaphysical. View quote
Robert Smithson
Objects in a park suggest static repose rather than any ongoing dialectic. Parks are finished landscapes for finished art . View quote
Robert Smithson
Questions about form seem as hopelessly inadequate as questions about content. View quote
Robert Smithson
Language should find itself in the physical world, and not end up locked in an idea in somebody's head. View quote
Robert Smithson
Language operates between literal and metaphorical signification. View quote
Robert Smithson
When a finished work of 20th century sculpture is placed in an 18th century garden, it is absorbed by the ideal representation of the past, thus reinforcing political and social values that are no longer with us. View quote
Robert Smithson
Mistakes and dead-ends often mean more to these artists than any proven problem. (Robert Smithson)
Instead of causing us to remember the past like the old monuments, the new monuments seem to cause us to forget the future. View quote
Robert Smithson

Robert Smithson

Occupation: American Sculptor
Born: January 2, 1938
Died: July 20, 1973
Quotes count: 37
Wikipedia: Robert Smithson

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