American artist Robert Smithson created an art piece essentially highlighting the earth’s ability to compost and it is named Partially Buried Woodshed. This art piece came to life in 1970 in Kent, Ohio, not long after the tragic Kent State shootings. Some see the burial of the shed as a metaphor for the suppression of students’ voices and overall opinions held by modest middle-class workers, and people by the government. Either way, the piece’s core value is to represent the entropy of life, uncertainty, and the superior strength of the earth.
Robert Smithson took a pre-existing, small-scale shed in rural Ohio and had it partially covered by 20 truckloads of dirt. The message behind this piece wasn’t intended to be immediately recognized. Smithsons idea was that over time the soil would decay the firewood shed and reclaim the space organically. He wanted to create something that would show the impermanence of man-made objects and even our species as a whole. In reality, the power humans hold is very insignificant in relation to the power possessed by the earth. Smithsons interest in entropy, a gradual decline into disorder, was the catalyst behind this project.
This project defied traditional art styles in many ways, but arguably the most noticeable being the location of its display. Art pieces were and are still usually displayed in galleries or other buildings, typically amongst other pieces of art. The location of Partially Buried Woodshed being outdoors in rural Ohio was its first defiance of society’s norms. Another unordinary aspect of this art piece is that there was an intended timeline with an envisioned ending for it. The timeline was unknown however, after purposeful dismantling as well as decaying, the shed is no longer recognized as an art site, with only sparse remains still standing. It is interesting that we put so much effort into preserving historical art pieces and that this one had the complete opposite intention behind it. Robert Smithson’s vision for this art piece came to life literally by being overcome by life.
