Spiral Jetty by Katherine Shannon

The Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson really intrigues me because it was designed and built by land-moving trucks, and is a visible and quite large piece of artwork. The Spiral Jetty also reminds me of a movie called The Last Mimzy which is a children's movie that follows two children who develop special powers after opening a mysterious box of toys. In the box of toys is a rabbit which telepathically speaks with one child, stones and a weird object. The children become extremely intelligent, to the level of genius, from being exposed to these toys and one child assembles all the objects creating a blackout in the state. I think this is very interesting because the movie largely uses a design much like the Spiral Jetty and it shows how this shape has a somewhat magical and other-worldly association. Also, its really cool because the children become intelligent beyond theirs years which portrays how mystical and intellectual such a design like the Spiral jetty is because Smithson had intended to remind viewers of the remains of ancient civilizations which had an incredible genius to make things that in current civilization are still trying to understand. Its interesting to note the connection of this insignia with intelligence because learning civilizations of the past is important for the future, which we see happens to the children in the movie.

I was also intrigued by the reasoning Smithson used the spiral shape which was because it suggests endless growth and decay. That type of ideology is similar to that of Celtic art and designs which are usually constant looping and intertwining oval, or circular shapes that are supposed to represent connections in the world between life and death. Any circular pattern that curls and uncurls provoke a curiosity because they suggest that things are never ending. Also, it is implied that death and life are two things that are hand and hand. Much like the Spiral Jetty, Celtic art and design portrays that everything is connected.