“Congruity could be disrupted by a metaphorical complexity within a literal system. Literal usage becomes incantory when all metaphors are suppressed. Here language is built, not written. Yet, discursive literalness is apt to be a container for a radical metaphor. Literal statements often conceal violent analogies. The mind resists the false identity of such circumambient suggestions, only to accept an equally false logical surface.” — Robert Smithson [more / the collected writings]

[my sense of language is that it is matter and not ideas - i.e., “printed matter”]

Robert Smithson, A Heap of Language, Pencil drawing, 1966

“Like most land art, the Spiral Jetty is a part of its landscape and its affected by the elements: It exists to eventually erode under natural conditions. Since its creation, the jetty has been completely covered and uncovered by water several times, being dependent on fluctuating water levels.”

[some information about “spiral jetty” series here; his films]

Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Utah; Photos by Stu Jenks