Robert Smithson's Unbuilt Airport Designs Revealed in New York Exhibition

Marian Goodman Gallery in New York presents 'Abstract Cartography,' an exhibition exploring Robert Smithson's architectural proposals for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport from 1966. The show features sketches, maquettes, and blueprints that reveal the Land artist's visionary approach to airport design as monumental sculpture. Smithson collaborated with architecture firm Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton despite having no formal architectural training, having recently transitioned from painting to creating what he called 'crystalline structures.' His designs included earthworks visible only from airplanes, such as a white gravel spiderweb and marbleized fields with wandering earth mounds. One 1967 drawing depicts an asphalt spiral predating his iconic Spiral Jetty by three years. The exhibition also displays collages of maps, geological studies in film and photography, and drawings of unrealized public sculptures. Smithson proposed positioning works by Carl Andre, Sol Lewitt, Robert Morris, and himself at the airport's four corners, with live video feeds to a central terminal monitor bank. The artist viewed airports as modern architectural monuments that reflect humanity's conquest of the sky and impact on the environment. His 1966 essay 'Towards the Development of an Air Terminal Site' in Artforum's Summer 1967 issue argued for erasing distinctions between art and architecture. The exhibition runs from June 24 to August 20, 2021.