Editing Spiral Jetty (section)

==Construction==
[[Image:Spiraljetty.jpg|thumb|right|Person standing in the middle of ''Spiral Jetty'', viewed from the shore]]
Smithson reportedly chose the Rozel Point site based on the blood-red color of the water and its connection with the [[primordial sea]]. The red hue of the water is due to the presence of salt-tolerant [[bacteria]] and [[algae]] that thrive in the extreme 27 percent [[salinity]] of the lake's north arm, which was isolated from freshwater sources by the building of [[Great Salt Lake#Causeway|a causeway]] by the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] in 1959.

Smithson was reportedly attracted to the Rozel Point site because of the stark anti-pastoral beauty and industrial remnants from nearby [[Golden Spike National Historic Site]], as well as an old pier and a few unused oil rigs.<ref name="kimmelman">{{cite web|last=Kimmelman|first=Michael|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Out of the Deep|date=October 13, 2002|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/13/magazine/the-way-we-live-now-10-13-02-phenomenon-out-of-the-deep.html|accessdate=November 6, 2012}}</ref> While observing the construction of the piece from a helicopter, Smithson reportedly remarked "et in [[Utah]] ego" as a counterpoint to the pastoral [[Baroque]] painting ''[[Et in Arcadia ego (Poussin)|et in Arcadia ego]]'' by [[Nicolas Poussin]].<ref name=writings>{{cite book|last=Smithson|first=Robert|editor-last=Holt|editor-first=Nancy|title=The Writings of Robert Smithson: Essays with Illustrations|location=New York NY|publisher=New York University Press|year=1979|isbn=9780814733943}}</ref>

To move the rock into the lake, Smithson hired Bob Phillips of nearby [[Ogden, Utah]], who used two dump trucks, a large tractor, and a [[Loader (equipment)|front end loader]] to haul the 6,650 tons of rock and earth into the lake. It is reported that Smithson had a difficult time convincing a contractor to accept the unusual proposal. ''Spiral Jetty'' was the first of his pieces to require the acquisition of land rights and earthmoving equipment.<ref name=AAA-finding-aid>{{cite web|title=A Finding Aid to the Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt papers|url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/robert-smithson-and-nancy-holt-papers-7105/more|publisher=Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=November 29, 2012}}</ref> Phillips often told people that his best-known construction job was "the only thing I ever built that ... was to look at and had no purpose".<ref name="sltrib">{{cite news |last1=Means |first1=Sean |title=Bob Phillips, contractor on Spiral Jetty, dies at 75 |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3791137&itype=CMSID |access-date=4 January 2021 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=18 April 2016}}</ref>

Phillips described the use of earth-moving equipment along the lakeside as "tricky", and said of Smithson that "I don't think he had done any geology work or anything on it. He just had in his mind what it should look like.... He just had the eye for it. I assume it was the artist in him."<ref name="sltrib"/> Work began on the jetty in April 1970. The work was constructed twice; the first time requiring six days. After contemplating the result for two days, Smithson called the crew back and had the shape altered to its present configuration, an effort requiring moving 7,000 tons of basalt rock during an additional three days.<ref name=trib>Sean P. Means, [http://saltlaketribune.ut.newsmemory.com/ ''Contractor brought Spiral Jetty to life''], [[Salt Lake Tribune]], April 19, 2016, p. A11 {{registration required|yes}}</ref>

Phillips' son appeared on the PBS ''[[Antiques Roadshow (American TV program)|Antiques Roadshow]]'' program in 2017 with a photograph and collection of documents related to the building of the project.<ref>{{cite web |title=1970 Robert Smithson Spiral Jetty Plans |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/21/salt-lake-city-ut/appraisals/1970-robert-smithson-spiral-jetty-plans--201606A30/ |website=Antiques Roadshow |publisher=PBS |accessdate=9 October 2019 |date=2019}}</ref>