Robert Smithson at Dia
Great Salt Lake, Utah, September 26, 2024
Robert Smithson's earthwork Spiral Jetty (1970) is located at Rozel Point peninsula on the northeastern shore of Great Salt Lake. Using over six thousand tons of black basalt rocks and earth from the site, Smithson formed a coil 1,500 feet long and 15 feet wide that winds counterclockwise off the shore into the water. In 1999, through the generosity of the artist Nancy Holt, Smithson’s wife, and the Estate of Robert Smithson, the artwork was donated to Dia Art Foundation.
As stewards of Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, Dia has recorded changes to the work over time through annual photographic documentation since 2012. Water levels in the Great Salt Lake have changed throughout the years, both submerging and exposing the work, but the sculpture has remained visible since 2002. The Great Salt Lake, which once covered the work, is now almost one mile from the Spiral Jetty.
Dia is pleased to share this film highlighting Spiral Jetty and the work of Robert Smithson in celebration of our 50th anniversary.
Support provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies
Video by SandenWolff
Interviews: Rachel Wolff and Jonathan Sanden
Story editing: Rachel Wolff
Filming: Noah Therrien and Jonathan Sanden
Video editing: Stephen Parnigoni
Original Music: Noah Therrien
Additional music: roeaudionews, courtesy of Jamendo
Interviews: Rachel Wolff and Jonathan Sanden
Story editing: Rachel Wolff
Filming: Noah Therrien and Jonathan Sanden
Video editing: Stephen Parnigoni
Original Music: Noah Therrien
Additional music: roeaudionews, courtesy of Jamendo
Dia Art Foundation staff
Producers: Katherine Ellis and Dan Wolfe
Production assistant: Claire O’Neill
Rights and reproductions: Jenn Kane
Communications director: Hannah Gompertz
Copy editor: Anya Szykitka
Proofreader: Karen Rasaby
Producers: Katherine Ellis and Dan Wolfe
Production assistant: Claire O’Neill
Rights and reproductions: Jenn Kane
Communications director: Hannah Gompertz
Copy editor: Anya Szykitka
Proofreader: Karen Rasaby
Special thanks to Lisa Le Feuvre, William T. Carson, and the Holt/Smithson Foundation
Additional thanks to Gretchen Dietrich and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and to Bonnie Baxter and the Great Salt Lake Institute
© 2024 Dia Art Foundation
All works © 2024 Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, unless otherwise noted
Explore
Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty
Move toRobert Smithson, Spiral Jetty
page