As I was looking at the Spiral Jetty and thinking about its overall role in the Great Salt Lake, I kept in mind one important concept of what a museum does: does it contribute to the progress and knowledge of human society?
This question in itself is difficult to respond to. On one hand, the artist Robert Smithson emphasized that the jetty would be under the effect of the elements that surround it; meaning that whatever happens to it should be completely natural to the environment encompassing it. On the other hand, the fact that this piece of art is so affected by its surroundings calls into account the effects we have over the environment. Some people could say that the jetty is a testament to the way we treat the environment. With so much pollution in the air, the environment experiences drought, lowering the water levels and revealing the salt and silt buildup on the jetty, which has turned considerably white. If you look at it in this way, the jetty is part of a museum that attempts to illustrate the effects we have on the environment.
In my opinion, the Spiral Jetty is not part of a greater museum. When I think of what a museum does, one word quickly comes to mind: preservation. Museums are known for preserving art and artifacts so that they may be able to present them in a way that the viewer may relate to. The Spiral Jetty is definitely not a preserved piece of art; people have been known to run off with its rocks, write notes in the sand around it and litter it. Not to mention that it is slowly being degraded away by its environment. There is no degree of preservation occurring around the jetty, and if there is, it is not very effective. It is for this reason that I don’t think the Great Salt Lake is a museum.
I agree you with you that the Spiral Jetty should not be considered a museum. Specifically the idea that the jetty is not cared for and is constantly changing really goes against the idea of a museum. Also I feel as thought that a true museum has to be inside a building and not out in nature. The building itself helps to bring museums into some sort of context. Though the jetty is still an important piece of art I think that it should not be considered a museum.
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