untitled project: robert smithson library

Conrad Bakker

September 9 - November 25, 2023

Oil paint on carved wood, dimensions variable, 2014—2019

Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club consists of carved and painted book/sculptures based on the titles from the personal library of conceptual artist and land art pioneer Robert Smithson. Smithson’s personal library is notable in that his titles reveal a wide range of subjects, providing a unique window into his research and practice—and also functioning like a time capsule featuring the culture and ideas of his time. Soon after Robert Smithson’s untimely death in 1973, all of his books were catalogued, boxed, and placed into the Archives of American Art, where they currently reside.

Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club exists in two forms: first as a comprehensive installation, a carved and painted sculptural rendering of every single title/edition from Robert Smithson’s library. And second, as a Book Club membership program that functions like a distributed archive—with participants from all over the world who purchase the second (and final) iteration of a carved and painted book sculpture from the available titles. In many ways, this part of the project operates like one of Smithson’s non-sites, slowly marking the time, distance and trajectories between books, ideas, persons, and spaces.