Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty

Millennium Film Workshop and MM Serra present a special engagement, on the evening of Tuesday June 18th, showcasing a pristine original 16mm print of Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty.

The film, Spiral Jetty, was completed by Smithson shortly after the construction of his famous land art sculpture in Utah of the same name. The film documents the massive project in all its incredible scale, but also contextualizes it in a montage of referents under an aegis of natural history. By placing images of the Spiral Jetty in conversation with a fragmented history of Planet Earth, it provokes the viewer inescapably to consider the probable eventual fragmentation of the work itself due to natural forces of erosion, geologic happening and even eventually tectonic shift. The notion is that thousands of years from now, what notion will survive of a record of human existence. Is Smithson’s will to transform the surface of the Earth a symptom of a natural tendency which defines the Anthropocene, or can it be considered an indelible trace of life on earth in total, as much as the fossil record or the inevitable traces of radiation which will long survive the nuclear era of humanity?

We will be presenting Spiral Jetty on an original 16mm print, recently rediscovered by chance and gifted to Mary Magdalene Serra, who generously is presenting the work. Join us for this unique and rare opportunity to experience this original document of a momentous 20th century artwork in its intended form.

This program is curated by MM Serra and Erica Schreiner for Millennium Film Workshop.

MILLENNIUM FILM WORKSHOP

PRESENTS

SPIRAL JETTY

Robert Smithson

Presented on 16mm

IN-PERSON

Tuesday June 18th, 2024

Millennium Film Workshop

167 Wilson Avenue, Brooklyn NY

11237

$10 Suggested Donation