Robert Smithson– Spiral Jetty
Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution.
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I was looking at a book catalog yesterday, just browsing for something new and I spotted a book on the works of Robert Smithson, who is best known for his monumental earthworks. The most famous is shown here, the Spiral Jetty, which juts out into the Great Salt Lake in Utah. I’ve always been somewhat fascinated by earth-moving on a large scale and have always admired Smithson’s work.
The reason I mention this now is that I found myself thinking smaller lately, perhaps painting smaller paintings for a smaller economy. Part of this was a conscious decision but part was the result of just becoming a little more wary with all the turmoil in the world. There has been a period of introversion marked by a noticeable withdrawal from thinking boldly.
Seeing this image of Smithson’s work reminded me of the need to think big.
I realized I had become a bit fearful of pushing myself, perhaps afraid of exposing my limitations. I had lost a little faith in my own abilities, including the ability to adapt to new challenges.
I was being safe. It was my version of the retrogression that Goethe mentions in the quote above. I was in the spiral.
This all flashed in my head within a few seconds of seeing the spiral jetty. Funny how a single image can trigger a stream of thought with so many branches off of it.
I had forgotten that I had to trust myself and throw the fear of failure aside, that thinking bold almost always summons up the best in many people. Once you say that you don’t give a damn what anyone says, that if you fail so be it, the road opens up before you and your mind finds a way to get you on it.
So, I have to remember to think big.
To look past the horizon. Just freaking do it.
Then progress will come…
This post was from way back in 2009. I was reminded of it in recent days when I was cleaning out a part of my collapsing old studio. I pulled out some remaining old frames from back in the early 2000’s and was surprised at the sheer size of them. Most were much larger than anything I paint these days. I had forgotten how much bolder I was in that manner back then than I am now. And it made me wonder if I had lost something by not maintaining that same boldness, that willingness to make big expressions.
I don’t have an answer.
But it makes me want to do something big.
Redtree Times 