Hickmet Loe

Explore Land art icon Robert Smithson and his Utah masterpiece, Spiral Jetty (1970), with art historian Hikmet Loe on Wednesday, October 4, 7 pm, at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA).

The event begins with a brief talk and reading by Loe from her new book, The Spiral Jetty Encyclo: Exploring Robert Smithson’s Earthwork Through Time and Place (University of Utah Press, 2017), followed by a screening of Smithson’s short film Spiral Jetty. A Q&A, book signing, and light refreshments follow.

The event is part of the UMFA’s ARTLandish: Land Art, Landscape, and Environment series and the Utah Humanities Book Festival. It is free and open to the public.

Spiral Jetty, located on the northern shore of Great Salt Lake, is the most famous large-scale artwork of the 1960s and 1970s. Its exceptional art historical importance and its unique beauty have drawn visitors and media attention from throughout Utah and around the world.

The Spiral Jetty Encyclo draws on Smithson’s writings for encyclopedic entries that explore the context of the earthwork and Smithson’s many points of reference in creating it. Visitors and armchair travelers alike will discover how much significance Smithson placed on regional considerations, his immersion in natural history, his passion for travel, and his ability to use diverse mediums to create a cohesive and lasting work of art. Containing some 220 images, The Spiral Jetty Encyclo lets readers explore the construction, connections, and significance of Smithson's 1,500-foot-long curl into Great Salt Lake, created, in Smithson's words, of “mud, salt crystals, rocks, water.”

Hikmet Sidney Loe teaches art history at Westminster College. Her work examines the changeable nature of the earth and addresses our perceptual and cultural constructs of the land. She frequently lectures and publishes on topics related to Utah’s earthworks. 

For more information about Spiral Jetty and Land art, please visit umfa.utah.edu/land-art. For more information about The Spiral Jetty Encyclo, please visit uofupress.lib.utah.edu/the-spiral-jetty-encyclo/. For book festival information, please visit utahhumanities.org.