Dark Matter: Cities - Heap of Cities

95/25 bitumen, glass base, plinth

In 1966 Robert Smithson created ‘Something between a drawing and a text—or, as Smithson referred to it, “Language to be Looked at and/or Things to be Read”—A heap of Language offers a series of linguistic terms confined by the mathematical parameters of a numbered graph. Its shape is something of a pyramid (a symbol of rigorous structural precision), yet it is constructed from the top down, defying the laws of gravity. This work could be considered a concrete poem. Cleverly evading definitive classification at every turn, A heap of Language embodies Smithson’s love of paradox.’

Dark Matter: Cities - Heap of Cities, references Smithson's work in three dimensions. Its pyramidal shape is built from the bottom up It is made up of a number of city shapes yet is unreadable as any particular city. It succumbs to the laws of gravity, defies conventional use of sculptural form, lacks permanence and is made of a base rather than precious material.