Author: Robert Smithson

Quotes

Parks are idealizations of nature, but nature in fact is not a condition of the ideal.

Parks are idealizations of nature, but nature in fact is not a condition of the ideal.

- 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.

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.

- Robert Smithson

Objects in a park suggest static repose rather than any ongoing dialectic. Parks are finished landscapes for finished art .

Objects in a park suggest static repose rather than any ongoing dialectic. Parks are finished landscapes for finished art .

- Robert Smithson

Cultural confinement takes place when a curator imposes his own limits on an art exhibition, rather than asking an artist to set his limits.

Cultural confinement takes place when a curator imposes his own limits on an art exhibition, rather than asking an artist to set his limits.

- Robert Smithson

Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is.

Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is.

- 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.

Instead of causing us to remember the past like the old monuments, the new monuments seem to cause us to forget the future.

- Robert Smithson

History is representational, while time is abstract; both of these artifices may be found in museums, where they span everybody's own vacancy.

History is representational, while time is abstract; both of these artifices may be found in museums, where they span everybody's own vacancy.

- Robert Smithson

Art's development should be dialectical and not metaphysical.

Art's development should be dialectical and not metaphysical.

- Robert Smithson

Art history is less explosive than the rest of history, so it sinks faster into the pulverized regions of time.

Art history is less explosive than the rest of history, so it sinks faster into the pulverized regions of time.

- Robert Smithson

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