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Robert Smithson's Abstract Geology: Revisiting the Premonitory Politics of the Triassic

  • Etienne Turpin (author)
Chapter of: Making the Geologic Now: Responses to Material Conditions of Contemporary Life(pp. 173–179)

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Metadata
TitleRobert Smithson's Abstract Geology
SubtitleRevisiting the Premonitory Politics of the Triassic
ContributorEtienne Turpin (author)
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.21983/P3.0014.1.29
Landing pagehttps://punctumbooks.com/titles/making-the-geologic-now/
Licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
CopyrightTurpin, Etienne
Publisherpunctum books
Published on2012-12-04
Long abstractIn response to an artist symposium question regarding the “deepening political crisis in America,” Robert Smithson published a piece in Artforum, September 1970, titled “Art and the Political Whirlpool or the Politics of Disgust.” In it, he said: My ‘position’ is one of sinking into an awareness of global squalor and futility. The rat of poli-tics always gnaws at the cheese of art. The trap is set. If there’s an original curse, then politics has something to do with it. Direct political action becomes a matter of trying to pick poi-son out of boiling stew. The pain of this experience accelerates the need for more and more actions.1Later that same year, when asked about his political stance by Philip Leider, Smithson re-marked, “I’m interested in the politics of the Triassic period.” In an earlier essay, “The Crystal Land” (1966), Smithson suggested some of the sedimentary compositions at stake in a geo-artistic politics:Brian H. Mason, in his fascinating booklet, Trap Rock Minerals of New Jersey, speaks of the “Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Neward series,” which are related to those of the Palisades.
Page rangepp. 173–179
Print length7 pages
LanguageEnglish (Original)
Contributors