Robert Smithson's monumental earthwork Spiral Jetty (1970) is located on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Using black basalt rocks and earth from the site, the artist created a coil 1,500 feet long and 15 feet wide that stretches out counter-clockwise into the translucent red water. Spiral Jetty was acquired by Dia Art Foundation as a gift from the Estate of the artist in 1999. The conception, design and construction of this land art masterpiece is a fascinating story.
In July 2010 my sister Judy Wavers and cousin Carolina Carter traveled to this remote area with the help of a guide and spent the day installing and photographing our unwieldy spider webs in the enviornment. At that time, I was inserting baling wire into the webs with the thought that they needed that support to maintain form. The rigidity of the wire made the webs comically difficult to handle and transport.
