Robert Smithson: Time Crystals

Overview

The Monash University Museum of Art will showcase Robert Smithson's radical land art from the 1960s and early 1970s in the first ever Australian exhibition of the hugely influential American artist's work.

Running from July 21 to September 22, Time Crystals presents many of Smithson's key works of sculpture, film, photography, drawing, prints and texts. With the exhibition featuring almost entirely never-before-seen works in Australia, a collaboration between MUMA and The University of Queensland has successfully loaned Smithson's work from several major local and international institutions.

Examining Smithson's massive land-based works and photography, Time Crystals includes many of the artist's personal sketches, preparatory drawings, correspondence, photographs and handwritten manuscripts, all of which detail the massive undertaking behind each os his works. The exhibition will also be accompanied by a half-day symposium and a three-part film program further considering the artist's legacy.

Alongside his impressive creations, Smithson is credited with being one of the first artists to understand his work as project-driven, promoting a shift in the mindset of many artists of the time. Reflecting on his own work through writing, lecturing and curating, Smithson intensely considered the medium, location and language involved throughout his art projects.

Image: Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson, shot by Gianfranco Gorgoni.