Editing: Antonio Cataldo
Robert Smithson (1938-1973) became widely known with his earthwork Spiral Jetty (1970), and his oeuvre is frequently characterized in terms of its contribution to an expansion of the medium of 'sculpture'. Yet Smithson himself considered sculpture to be 'finished'. His work involved an almost bewildering proliferation of innovative practices and forms that repeatedly defied prevailing conceptions of the bounds of art – from the simple displacement of materials at his 'sites' and 'non-sites', to magazine works, slide-lectures, film and extended architectural projects; all of which were accompanied by extensive writings and interviews. As such, Smithson's work is emblematic of both the experimentalism and increasingly conceptual character of art in the 1960s, to which many artists are turning, once again, today. Peter Osborne's second lecture, which will start and conclude with a showing of parts of Smithson's own film of Spiral Jetty, will propose a new interpretation of the critical significance of Smithson's work between 1966 and 1972.
At the start and finish of the lecture, Robert Smithson's film Spiral Jetty (1970) has been shown in 2 parts.
Directed by Robert Smithson the film Spiral Jetty, (1970, 32 minutes, color, sound) presents Smithson's renowned earth work – The Spiral Jetty, as it projects into the shallows off the shore of Utah's Great Salt Lake. A voice-over by the artist reveals the evolution of the Spiral Jetty. Sequences filmed in a natural history museum are integrated into the film featuring prehistoric relics that illustrate themes central to Smithson's work.
Peter Osborne is a Professor of Modern European Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, Middlesex University, London and editor of the journal, Radical Philosophy. His books include The Politics of Time: Modernity and Avant-Garde (1995), Philosophy in Cultural Theory (2000), Conceptual Art (2002) and How to Read Marx (2005). He is the editor of the 3 volume Walter Benjamin: Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory (2005).