Nonsite, Site Uncertain

1968

Robert Smithson American, 1938 - 1973

Not On View

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Smithson was intrigued with synthesizing two contradictory aspects of art: his ecological concerns with nature and geology, and his cynical notions about public art. The title of the work refers to the transfer of the rocks from their original "site" to a gallery or museum setting, which is the "non site." His use of the unconventional material of cannel coal draws attention to his preoccupation with the notion of entropy, which is the slow degradation of matter and energy. His work is classified as part of the postminimalist movement, which diverged from the highly structured principles of minimalism. The steel bins reflect the minimalist's rigid aesthetic of serial ordering; inside the bins, however, the order becomes chaotic as the cannel coal is not arranged in any particular configuration.

Title Nonsite, Site Uncertain

Artwork Date 1968

Artist Robert Smithson

Life Dates 1938 - 1973

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Cannel coal, steel and enamel

Dimensions Overall (Displayed): 15 × 90 × 90 inches (38.1 × 228.6 × 228.6 cm) Overall (76.95.A): 3 × 9 × 9 inches (7.6 × 22.9 × 22.9 cm) Overall (76.95.B): 5 × 14 × 14 inches (12.7 × 35.6 × 35.6 cm) Overall (76.95.C): 7 × 21 × 21 inches (17.8 × 53.3 × 53.3 cm) Overall (76.95.D): 9 × 30 × 30 inches (22.9 × 76.2 × 76.2 cm) Overall (76.95.E): 11 × 41 × 41 inches (27.9 × 104.1 × 104.1 cm) Overall (76.95.F): 15 × 69 × 69 inches (38.1 × 175.3 × 175.3 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Contemporary Art after 1950

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Dr. and Mrs. George Kamperman Fund and New Endowment Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 76.95

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

(Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA)

1968-1975, Ian Davison (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

1975, Roger Davison (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). 1976-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

The New Sculpture 1965-75: Between Geometry and Gesture. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1990, p. 105 (ill.).

Hobbs, Robert. Robert Smithson: Sculpture. Ithaca and London, 1981, p. 115 (ill.).

Bulletin of the DIA 56, no. 1 (1977): 33-34 (ill.).

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Robert Smithson, Nonsite, Site Uncertain, 1968, cannel coal, steel and enamel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Dr. and Mrs. George Kamperman Fund and New Endowment Fund, 76.95.