Lesson Goal: Students will observe qualities and patterns in rocks to explain changes over time and can hypothesize observations the artist might have made in the process of making art with earth or land.
Non-Site: Line of Wreckage (Bayonne, New Jersey), 1968
Painted aluminum, broken concrete; framed map and three photo panels
cage: 59 × 70 × 12 1/2 in. (149.86 × 177.8 × 31.75 cm) panels: 3 3/4 × 49 in. (9.53 × 124.46 cm)
Purchase, National Endowment for the Arts Matching Funds M1969.65
Photo credit: John R. Glembin
© Estate of Robert Smithson/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York
Robert Smithson revolutionized contemporary art through works that question issues of permanence, materials, function and presentation and is well known for his Earth Art. “Much of Smithson’s output was shaped by his interest in the concept of entropy, the second law of thermodynamics that predicts the eventual exhaustion and collapse of any given system. His interest in geology and mineralogy confirmed this law to him, since in rocks and rubble he saw evidence of how the earth slows and cools. But the idea also informed his outlook on culture and civilization more generally; his famous essay Entropy and the New Monuments (1969) draws analogies between the quarries and the strip malls and tract housing of New Jersey, suggesting that ultimately the later will also perish and return to rubble.” (https://www.theartstory.org/artist/smithson-robert/)
Activity: Lead observation and discussion of the rocks and materials used in this artwork. Encourage students to think, make notes, and talk through ideas with small or whole group discussion.
Notice: What do you notice about the shapes of the rocks in this artwork? What qualities do the rocks have? Did you notice small rocks inside larger rocks?
Wonder: What may have caused these rocks to become the shapes and forms you see? Do they appear natural or man-made? Organic or non-organic? How can you tell?
Ask: What are some observations the artist might have made while creating this artwork? What are some ways rocks can be formed, broken down, or eroded? How does this effect the local environment? How does it effect the Earth on a broader scale?
Standard: 4-ESS1-1: Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
Indicators of Understanding:
Developing: Student is able to describe what they see, but struggle to explain plausible causes.
Proficient: Student is able to describe what they see, and can explain plausible causes.
Exceeding: Student is able to describe what they see, and can explain plausible causes by pointing to observations and verbalizing prior learning to support their thinking.