
How Do You Sell a Work of Art Built into the Earth? - Thevet
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/arts/design/robert-smithson-earthwork-art.html
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rwmj
In the superficially similar cases of many Banksy works across London, the
answer is you chisel out entire sections of buildings and sell them to private
collectors. eg:

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7188387.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7188387.stm)

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-
gloucestershire-3714847...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-
gloucestershire-37148473)

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-
london-23461396](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23461396)

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-
kent-30242249](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-30242249)

~~~
6stringmerc
...wondered if Banksy would get a mention. Also of note is the occasional
"Oops it got painted over / destroyed" ending to his art which nature can also
replicate. Might take eons, but the planet doesn't run on my clock.

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binarymax
An interesting introduction but the article unfortunately falls short without
really answering its title question. IMO it could have continued to discussing
the same dilemma faced by most conceptual art. Also surprising there is not a
single mention of the contemporary Andy Goldsworthy [0], who has done a great
deal to promote environmental art.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy)

~~~
theoh
Is there really an interesting question here, though? The art world has for
years had no difficulty trading in immaterial works of art, or, for example
the right to exhibit a performance. In the case of something simple that
anyone could reproduce, like a very simple performed gesture, what actually
gets sold is the right to assert that a given performance is actually an
authentic, canonical instance of the work.

I've never encountered any interesting nuances or complexity when it comes to
the sale of conceptual work. It is just very straightforward.

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gregmac
An additional article [0] showing some of the work [1] made me smile thinking
about some future civilization finding these and trying to figure out why we
built them or what they were used for.

[0] [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/arts/design/michael-
heize...](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/arts/design/michael-heizers-big-
work-and-long-view.html?_r=0) [1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_art)

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JoeDaDude
Those interested in this sort of thing may enjoy the film series on sculpture,
"The Sculpture Diaries" by Waldemar Januszczak, in particular, the 3rd film on
Land Art. I was unable to locate a streaming source for the film, but trailers
are still available [1], [2].

[1]
[http://www.films.com/ecTitleDetail.aspx?TitleID=31163](http://www.films.com/ecTitleDetail.aspx?TitleID=31163)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCMXKANoBgA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCMXKANoBgA)

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Neliquat
Annoyed that they never directly addressed the answer. But it seems obvious
that it is by sale of the land, or rights/access to it. As anyone would agree
Architecture is art, this question has long been settled. Essentially
clickbait for an article interesting enough not to need it.

