Map of Broken Clear Glass (Atlantis), 1969
Collage, Photostat, map, and graphite on paper
42.5 x 35.6 cm. (16 3/4 x 14 in.)
Dia Art Foundation, gift of Nancy Holt
New Jersey as Non-Site includes two "sketches" for outdoor installations or ephemeral "earth-maps" that Smithson created for a 1969 exhibition on Loveladies Island. The one seen here depicts the imaginary continent of Atlantis, a nonsite not unlike the others included in the exhibition. The sculpture was fabricated on a sandy shoreline using clear broken glass; when struck by the sun, the work dissolved into radiated shards of light, blinding the viewer in the process.