A work of art when placed in a gallery loses its charge, and becomes a portable object or surface disengaged from the outside world.

Quote by Robert Smithson

Topics: Robert Smithson Quotes

Cultural confinement takes place when a curator imposes his own limits on an art exhibition,...

Cultural confinement takes place when a curator imposes his own limits on an art exhibition,...

Artists are expected to fit into fraudulent categories.

Artists are expected to fit into fraudulent categories.

History is a facsimile of events held together by finally biographical information.

History is a facsimile of events held together by finally biographical information.

Nature does not proceed in a straight line, it is rather a sprawling development.

Nature does not proceed in a straight line, it is rather a sprawling development.

Language thus becomes monumental because of the mutations of advertising.

Language thus becomes monumental because of the mutations of advertising.

Nature is never finished.

Nature is never finished.

Mistakes and dead-ends often mean more to these artists than any proven problem.

Mistakes and dead-ends often mean more to these artists than any proven problem.

Banal words function as a feeble phenomena that fall into their own mental bogs of...

Banal words function as a feeble phenomena that fall into their own mental bogs of...

Words for mental processes are all derived from physical things.

Words for mental processes are all derived from physical things.

Language should find itself in the physical world, and not end up locked in an...

Language should find itself in the physical world, and not end up locked in an...

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

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

From the top of the quarry cliffs, one could see the New Jersey suburbs bordered...

From the top of the quarry cliffs, one could see the New Jersey suburbs bordered...

The museums and parks are graveyards above the ground- congealed memories of the past that...

The museums and parks are graveyards above the ground- congealed memories of the past that...

When a finished work of 20thcentury sculpture is placed in an 18th-century garden, it is...

When a finished work of 20thcentury sculpture is placed in an 18th-century garden, it is...

Language operates between literal and metaphorical signification.

Language operates between literal and metaphorical signification.

The scenic ideals that surround even our national parks are carriers of a nostalgia for...

The scenic ideals that surround even our national parks are carriers of a nostalgia for...

Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is.

Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is.

Painting, sculpture and architecture are finished, but the art habit continues.

Painting, sculpture and architecture are finished, but the art habit continues.

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

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

Language should be an ever developing procedure and not an isolated occurrence.

Language should be an ever developing procedure and not an isolated occurrence.