December 2004		Vol.23 No.10
A publication of the International Sculpture Center

Spiral Jetty Weekend

Bob Phillips (far left) gives SLAC director Ric Collier and Dia Art Foundation curator Lynne Cooke a first-hand account of the construction of the jetty during the Friday field trip. SLAC curator Jim Edwards shares jetty history with Blair Madden (far left) and Meredith Wortzel.

In September the International Sculpture Center (ISC) and the Salt Lake Art Center (SLAC) co-sponsored Spiral Jetty Weekend, a celebration of the re-emergence of Robert Smithson's monumental earthwork located in the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Over 100 participants from across the United States took part in the weekend events, which included two separate trips to view Spiral Jetty, optional air tours, reception at the Salt Lake Art Center, and a panel discussion featuring Lynne Cooke, curator of the Dia Art Foundation; Robert Hobbs, author of Robert Smithson Sculpture (1981); Bob Phillips, lead construction worker on Spiral Jetty; and Eugenie Tsai, curator of the Robert Smithson retrospective at MOCA Los Angeles.

ISC members Sarah Ohman and Mark Stevenson exchange their wedding vows during the Friday field trip.

Reasons for attending the Spiral Jetty Weekend varied among the participants, from satisfying a life-long desire to see Smithson's famous earthwork to wanting to experience Spiral Jetty with fellow art lovers, to using the jetty as a backdrop for the exchange of marriage vows: ISC members Sarah Ohman and Mark Stevenson got married at the jetty as part of the Friday field trip.

The two separate trips to see Spiral Jetty reinforced the claim that experiences of the sculpture can be vastly different form trip to trip. "I was fortunate enough to attend both trips out to the jetty, and it was amazing how much the landscape changed within a 24-hour period," says Mary Catherine Johnson, ISC Associate Director. "On Friday we were met with a hot, dry almost sparse landscape, and then by Saturday high winds had brought the water in closer, along with puffs of salt that drifted past the jetty like snow."

"Being local to Salt Lake City means I've had the chance to see the Jetty in relative solitude four or five times so it was a great treat to just watch the reactions of dozens of 'first-timers' because it's a very powerful experience," says Josh Kanter, a Board member for both the ISC and SLAC, as well as one of the weekend's organizers. "We had a world-class panel and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves very much. It was a fabulous weekend of events."

ISC & SLAC Board member Josh Kanter (far right) with Robert Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield on the hill in front of the jetty.

The ISC and SLAC extend special thanks to the sponsors of the Spiral Jetty Weekend: and anonymous donor, Ric Collier, The Cultural Vision Fund, Robert & Karen Duncan, and the Kanter Family Foundation.

To read a personal essay by one of the participants, Miki Yoshimoto, see the Forum, page 8 of the December 2004 issue of Sculpture magazine. The July/August 2004 issue of Sculpture featuresa cover story titled "Spiral Jetty: The Re-emergence" by Ric Collier and Jim Edwards of the Salt Lake Art Center.