Le Désert comme scène de l’avoir lieu : Robert Smithson et Noah Purifoy

This article looks at the works of two American artists from the second half of the 20th century : Noah Purifoy and Robert Smithson. These two sculptors question the notion of place in very similar ways, erecting their sculptures in the desert. The American desert is particularly pregnant with meani...

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Main Author: Antonia Rigaud
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" 2019-12-01
Series:Sillages Critiques
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/8370
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author Antonia Rigaud
author_facet Antonia Rigaud
author_sort Antonia Rigaud
collection DOAJ
description This article looks at the works of two American artists from the second half of the 20th century : Noah Purifoy and Robert Smithson. These two sculptors question the notion of place in very similar ways, erecting their sculptures in the desert. The American desert is particularly pregnant with meaning and represents a ground for an art marked by erosion and destruction. This article discusses two iconic desert interventions : Smithson’s Spiral Jetty and Purifoy’s Outdoor Desert Art Museum, in order to bring forward the art history debates of the time, moving away from formalist criticism towards more socio-political criticism. By confronting the way these two artists conceive of sculpture in the desert, this article seeks to cross perspectives and to explore what a contextual reading of Purifoy’s work can bring to our reading of Smithson’s and, conversely, how a formalist criticism of Smithson’s art can help bring Purifoy away from the marginal space he has too long been assigned.
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language English
publishDate 2019-12-01
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spelling doaj-art-b1faa5a5f2f34f8c80b5b9d83671adee2025-01-30T13:47:06ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022019-12-012710.4000/sillagescritiques.8370Le Désert comme scène de l’avoir lieu : Robert Smithson et Noah PurifoyAntonia RigaudThis article looks at the works of two American artists from the second half of the 20th century : Noah Purifoy and Robert Smithson. These two sculptors question the notion of place in very similar ways, erecting their sculptures in the desert. The American desert is particularly pregnant with meaning and represents a ground for an art marked by erosion and destruction. This article discusses two iconic desert interventions : Smithson’s Spiral Jetty and Purifoy’s Outdoor Desert Art Museum, in order to bring forward the art history debates of the time, moving away from formalist criticism towards more socio-political criticism. By confronting the way these two artists conceive of sculpture in the desert, this article seeks to cross perspectives and to explore what a contextual reading of Purifoy’s work can bring to our reading of Smithson’s and, conversely, how a formalist criticism of Smithson’s art can help bring Purifoy away from the marginal space he has too long been assigned.https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/8370entropysculpturemonumentplaceNoah PurifoyRobert Smithson
spellingShingle Antonia Rigaud
Le Désert comme scène de l’avoir lieu : Robert Smithson et Noah Purifoy
Sillages Critiques
entropy
sculpture
monument
place
Noah Purifoy
Robert Smithson
title Le Désert comme scène de l’avoir lieu : Robert Smithson et Noah Purifoy
title_full Le Désert comme scène de l’avoir lieu : Robert Smithson et Noah Purifoy
title_fullStr Le Désert comme scène de l’avoir lieu : Robert Smithson et Noah Purifoy
title_full_unstemmed Le Désert comme scène de l’avoir lieu : Robert Smithson et Noah Purifoy
title_short Le Désert comme scène de l’avoir lieu : Robert Smithson et Noah Purifoy
title_sort le desert comme scene de l avoir lieu robert smithson et noah purifoy
topic entropy
sculpture
monument
place
Noah Purifoy
Robert Smithson
url https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/8370
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