When a finished work of 20th century sculpture is placed in an 18th century garden, it is absorbed by the ideal representation of the past, thus reinforcing political and social values that are no longer with us — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
A camera is wild in just about anybody's hands, therefore one must set limits. But cameras have a life of their own. Cameras care… — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
“It’s like the end of the day where you feel nothing has been achieved and you’re in a hurry to get the day over… — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
Art history is less explosive than the rest of history, so it sinks faster into the pulverized regions of time. — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
Instead of causing us to remember the past like the old monuments, the new monuments seem to cause us to forget the future — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
History is representational, while time is abstract; both of these artifices may be found in museums, where they span everybody's own vacancy — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
Language should be an ever developing procedure and not an isolated occurrence. — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
History is a facsimile of events held together by finally biographical information. — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
Language thus becomes monumental because of the mutations of advertising — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
“Language operates between literal and metaphorical signification. The power of a word lies in the very inadequacy of the context it is placed, in… — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
Objects in a park suggest static repose rather than any ongoing dialectic. Parks are finished landscapes for finished art . — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image
From the top of the quarry cliffs, one could see the New Jersey suburbs bordered by the New York City skyline. — Robert Smithson Copy Share Image