Missing image

© The Artist

TRYING TO FIND THE SPIRAL JETTY 1997

Tacita Dean (1965 – )

Details

Dimension
Media
DIGITALLY RECORDED CD 27 MINUTES
Accession number
P7187

Summary

It was rumoured that Robert Smithson’s long submerged earthwork, the Spiral Jetty, had resurfaced. Dean journeyed to the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah in the hope of being able to witness this legendary intrusion into the landscape. The sound work Trying to find the Spiral Jetty is based on recordings made during the car journey, made with a friend, following detailed instructions, supplemented with later embellishments. The aural experience of their quest is therefore a fusion of fact and fiction, befitting the elusive nature of their goal. Another work refers to the mosquitoes that plagued them on this pilgrimage, represented by the magnetic film tape. Whether the set of instructions were followed correctly or not is unclear, but the projection Rozel Point, Great Salt Lake, Utahrecords the site at the end of the journey and shows no trace of the jetty.

Landscape, The British Council 2000