casting a glance (2007)

Casting a glance is a tribute to the American artist Robert Smithson.
Between May 15, 2005 and January 14, 2007 I made 16 trips to the
«Spiral Jetty». Created in 1970, the «Jetty» is a 1,500 – foot long
spiral-shaped jetty extending into the Great Salt Lake in Utah
constructed from rocks, earth, salt and red algae.

The resulting film maps the «Jetty» back onto its own 37 year history – looking at and listening to its reoccurring changes. I found the «Jetty» a barometer for a variety of cycles. From morning to night its allusive, shifting appearance (radical or subtle) may be the result of a passing wea-ther system or simply the changing angle of the sun. Seasonal shifts and water level changes alter salt crystal growth, the amount of algae in the water, and the presence of wildlife. The water may appear blue, red, purple, brown, or gold. Sounds may come from a navy jet, wildlife, lapping or splashing water, a visitor’s car radio, converging thunderstorms, or be a silence so still you can hear the blood moving through the veins in your ears. (James Benning)

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Benning revisits the American waterscape with casting a glance. Rather than multiple bodies, he’s concentrating on one: Utah’s Great Salt Lake. More specifically, one particular corner, which houses Robert Smithson’s legendary sited earthwork, the Spiral Jetty. Built in 1970 using black basalt rocks and earth, Smithson created a counterclockwise coil 1500 feet long and 15 feet wide. Soon after, the Spiral Jetty submerged beneath the waters, but it resurfaced in 1999 due to climate change, white and pink due to salt encrustation. Benning made numerous trips to the Spiral Jetty, and the result is his own astonishing work of art.

“Smithson described the surrounding salt flats in his writings. Caught in their sediments were countless bits of wreckage. He said that the site gave evidence of a succession of man-made systems mired in abandoned hopes…In order to experience the Jetty one must go often. It is a barometer for both daily and yearly cycles. From morning to night its allusive, shifting appearance (radical or subtle) may be the result of a passing weather system or simply the changing angle of the sun. The water may appear blue, red, purple, green, brown, silver or gold. The sound may come from a navy jet, passing geese, converging thunderstorms, a few crickets, or be a silence so still you can hear the blood moving through the veins in your ears.”–James Benning