Architecture often attempts to play with several spatial and formal concepts but the extent of this experimentation is often limited by budgetary and engineering constraints. Sculpture is a medium with which formal and spatial tests can be performed to an aesthetic extent without architectural limitation. There are several modern sculptors whose products can be seen as architecture. Here we will look at the works of Robert Smithson, Richard Serra and Anish Kapoor.
Robert Smithson is most markedly known for his monumental earthworks. By means of his experiments with the natural world, Smithson experimented with disorientation mixed with an intimate connection between a structure and its natural materials. “Spiral Jetty” is arguably Smithson’s most noted work. This man-made outcropping uses simple gestures to produce both monumentality and an awe inspiring interaction. Smithson’s other earthworks also deal with a sense of monumentality and unnatural intervention by natural means. In his smaller works Smithson plays with materiality, scale, reflection and a manner of deconstruction. By using natural material mixed with an array of mirrored surfaces, Smithson plays with perception and a small scale artificial landscape.
