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Robert Smithson's Chalk Mirror Displacement

Robert Smithson's Chalk Mirror Displacement (1969) was designed as a temporary work of art that was specific to the site, a chalk pit in England. In this case, as in many others, Smithson's intention was that the work be preserved only in photographs. The presentation of fragments of the original gives the viewer a sense of the texture of the piece, but also serves as a reminder--like a ruin from an ancient civilization of this human creation. It is not the photograph but the original sculpture that is interesting. The recording of the original sculpture in a photograph has a meaning only as a record of something temporary, since the temporary nature of all human accomplishments is an important part of Smithson's meaning in this work and others.

The work consists of 8 long, rectangular mirrors that are set on their longer sides. They all touch at the center, and are fanned out to form a circle. They are all placed at about an equal distance from each other. The shape resembles a star, a flower, or the sections of an orange. The mirrors are held up by a pile of chalk rocks and gravel. The rocks are all different sizes and are not placed in a particular order, just in a heap that is roughly leveled off at the top. The rocks are all different sizes, and the mirrors are inserted into the pile. The mirrors are almost covered by the rocks at the center of the circle, but at least one-fourth to one-third of each mirror sticks out beyond the pile of rocks. Smithson built the work near the edge of a chalk pit. The mirrors must have reflected the chalk pit and the area around it, as well as lighting up the chalk with reflected light. The reflected light would change during the day, and the piece would look very different depending on the time of day, the weather conditions, and the viewer's distance from it.

Robert Smithson created different kinds of artworks in the late 1960s and the early 1970s and Chalk Mirror Displace...

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Robert Smithson's Chalk Mirror Displacement. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 12:22, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1705015.html