Road trip serves as theme for visiting artist’s series

Erin Hogan at her lecture.

Erin Hogan, the director of Public Affairs and Communications at the Art Institute of Chicago, came to GCSU on Nov. 3 to proclaim her personal “great American road trip,” where she traveled cross-country to see some of the most renowned western land art. Hogan had become interested in land art because of her curiosity of monumental painting and space.  She explained how all of the works she visited were in incredibly remote locations that could sometimes be nerve-racking to locate.

The first few stops on Hogan’s journey did not meet her expectations and had her considering to call the whole trip off. Her first stop was Robert Smithsons’ “Spiral Jetty,” a collection of rocks in the shape of a spiral in the Great Salt Lake, created in 1970. The art that she had expected to be monumental turned out to be smaller and more delicate. Hogan explained to GCSU students and facility that the artist had intended the “Spiral Jetty” to be a representation of time rather than space, however she was still expecting it to be more awe-inspiring.

Hogan set out to find the “Sun Tunnels” created by Nancy Holt in Utah. These tunnels are four concrete tubes set in the middle of the desert that are activated only during the two equinoxes. After traveling in the desert for hours with no luck locating the art, Hogan decided to give up and move on to the next destination.

The next stop was “Double Negative” in Nevada, a creation by Michael Heizer in 1969.  The artist had blasted away 240 tons of limestone in order to create “a permanent scar on the face of the earth.” From the outside, it seemed slightly unimpressive, but standing at the base of the “scar” Hogan was able to see different features of the art as the sun passed over the hot Nevada sky.

Still not completely blown away, Hogan pulled up her spirits and traveled to “The Lightning Field” created by Walter De Maria in 1976-1977. This work of art is composed of 400 stainless steel poles drilled into the ground a mile long by a kilometer wide. Each pole was mathematically placed so that the tips are all equal regardless of the landscapes’ terrain. In order to experience “The Lightening Field” you must make a reservation to stay there overnight in a cabin. Hogan and her friend went out and looked at the field at sunset, and the image they saw became the turning point of Hogan’s trip. Each rod acted as a mirror, reflecting the light of the sunset as it changed colors in the sky. “It was one of the purest sensations I have ever seen of beauty,” Hogan recalls.

The internal debate between time and space was Hogan’s prime reason for taking this excursion. She needed to see the land art works in person to find her answer. In the end, the art enthusiast concluded that size is irrelevant, and time is the thing that matters most.

Posted by MIffyHornsby on Nov 11 2010. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.