Land art introduction > Spiral Jetty Robert Smithson American, 1938–1973 Spiral Jetty 1970 Site: Rozel Point, Great Salt Lake, Utah Materials: Black basalt rock, salt crystals, earth, water Dimensions: Coil 1,500 feet long and approximately 15 feet wide The monumental earthwork Spiral Jetty (1970) was created by artist Robert Smithson and is located off Rozel Point in the north arm of Great Salt Lake. Made of black basalt rocks and earth gathered from the site, Spiral Jetty is a 15-foot-wide coil that stretches more than 1,500 feet into the lake. Undoubtedly the most famous large-scale earthwork of the period, it has come to epitomize Land art. Its exceptional art historical importance and its unique beauty have drawn visitors and media attention from throughout Utah and around the world. Rozel Point attracted Smithson for a number of reasons, including its remote location and the reddish quality of the water in that section of the lake (an effect of algae). Using natural materials from the site, Smithson designed Spiral Jetty to extend into the lake several inches above the waterline. However, the earthwork is affected by seasonal fluctuations in the lake level, which can alternately submerge the Jetty or leave it completely exposed and covered in salt crystals. The close communion between Spiral Jetty and the super-saline Great Salt Lake emphasizes the entropic processes of erosion and physical disorder with which Smithson was continually fascinated. The Utah Museum of Fine Arts works in collaboration with Dia Art Foundation, steward of Spiral Jetty, and Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster College to preserve, maintain, and advocate for this masterpiece of late twentieth-century art and acclaimed Utah landmark.

LEFT | Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty (1970). Photograph by Gianfranco Gorgoni. Art © Estate of Robert Smithson/Licensed by VAGA, New York   spiral jetty Directions to Spiral Jetty Spiral Jetty Self-guided Tour Spiral Jetty Experiential Guide Spiral Jetty Family Backpack  Spiral Jetty Partnership robert smithson at the umfa Artwork in the Permanent Collection The Smithson Effect exhibition land art Introduction Sun Tunnels More about Robert Smithson ARTLandish: Land art, Landscape, and the Environment