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Three-Sided Vortex

Artist Robert Smithson (American, 1938 - 1973)

CultureAmerican

Date1966

MediumChrome, glass, and mirror

Dimensions16 1/2 x 8 x 9 in. (41.9 x 20.3 x 22.9 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2838

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 223

Label TextRobert Smithson American, 1938–1973 Three-Sided Vortex, 1966 Chrome, glass, and mirror a well of triangulating mirrors…it reveals all kinds of delicate polyhedral, symmetrical networks, all held together by fragile angles, joints, corners, etc. … In the words of Jorge Luis Borges, I have set out ‘to design that ungraspable architecture.’ –Robert Smithson Peek over the edge of this small, metal sculpture. What do you see? As the title suggests, the triangular mirrors in Three-Sided Vortex recall the conic shape of a whirlpool. For Robert Smithson, the convergence of the mirrors also references one-point perspective—a graphic technique developed in the Renaissance for creating the illusion of three-dimensional depth on a flat surface. Smithson’s use of mirrors adds additional dimensions, exploring ideas related to mathematics, geometry, and natural crystalline structures—themes that culminated in his immense outdoor sculpture, Spiral Jetty (1969). Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2838