Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (without architects), or: Why Infrastructure Won't Save Us

A hot topic in the architectural world right now is ‘emergence,’ a topic which, although vague, I would argue is inherent to Spiral Jetty as the concept that process is more important that the final piece, and time produces interesting and unexpected results that are outside the reach of the creator.

The crystallization of the salt particles, the ever-shifting water levels, the dissolution of the pure form to something a little fuzzier, the way the water gets all foamy as it laps up against the rocks—these are all things that Smithson could have neither planned nor predicted. Object and site move forward together as something new. Construction is also destruction, and the built-in obsolescence of Spiral Jetty is paralleled and alluded to in the fate of the dinosaurs. Even at its conception, the clock was ticking.

You can walk the spiral in less than five minutes. It’s smaller than you think (vaguely disappointing). And with the recession of the water level, you can cut back across the coils, leaving footprints in the white salt. It crackles and hums as the microscopic salt crystals break (delightful). And absorbing the bizarre atmosphere of the place, dangling my feet in the surprisingly warm water, the salt already crystallizing between my toes, while pondering the peculiar evening redness of the place (exhilarating), I thought back to Smithson’s quote that “a great artist can make art by simply casting a glance.”