Instead of making us remember the past,
as ancient monuments, the new monuments
They seem to make us forget the future. Instead of being
made of natural materials such as marble,
granite or other rock, new monuments
They are made of artificial materials such as plastic,
chrome and electricity. They are not built
for ages, but against them.
Rather than representing the long spaces of centuries,
They are part of a systematic reduction
time to fractions of seconds.
-RS

Robert Smithson (Passaic, New Jersey, 1938-1973) was one of the most revolutionary artists of the twentieth century. His great work, Spiral Jetty (Coil spring), built in the Great Salt Lake in Utah, contains the spirit of some of the greatest monuments of past civilizations, while is contemporary in concept and execution. Smithson was a prolific and original writer, whose views profoundly affected the course of American contemporary art.

This selection of writings of Robert Smithson, brings together some of the texts published by the American artist in magazines like Artforum, Arts International and Arts of Environment, between 1966 and 1973. His unique ability to analyze and art critic and social dynamics approach, cultural and economic generated around it, they make their written works both intrinsic and independent artistic creation.
In parallel, as stated Damián Ortega in the presentation of the book: "Although Smithson always shown a constant interest in landscapes and pre-Columbian archaeological sites and that was a dedicated scholar of Mesoamerican cultures, this is the first time a selection his writings are translated into Spanish and published in Mexico. "