  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.
  
  
  
  
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  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
  
  
  Copyright
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