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Man and his relation to nature was perhaps the first theme to appear in art. In this edition of State of the Arts, profiles of artists Robert Smithson and Thomas George show two very different 20th century variations on the theme. Also, a satirical, 21st century look at forces beyond our control in a new play by Christopher Durang, and a look at a classical trio which embodies passionate nature. From the primeval to the comedic, it’s Forces of Nature on this edition of State of the Arts.
robert smithson
Most famous for his iconic Spiral Jetty in Utah’s Great Salt Lake, Robert Smithson (1938 - 1973) was a pioneering artist and a native New Jerseyan who returned to the Garden State for inspiration throughout his life. In her book “Robert Smithson: Learning From New Jersey and Elsewhere”, art professor Ann Reynolds wrote that Smithson returned to New Jersey “again and again - alone and with fellow artists - to make art that, through its location alone, undermined assumptions about what, and more important, where, art should be. For those who guarded the established art world, New Jersey was "elsewhere"; but for Smithson "elsewheres" were the defining, if often forgotten, locations on the map of contemporary culture." Born in Passaic, Smithson co-founded the "Earthworks" movement in the 1960s, and he remains a pivotal figure in art history. Smithson died in a plane crash in 1973 at the age of 35 while surveying the site for another “Earthworks” project in Texas - Amarillo Ramp.
New York Times writer Benjamin Gennochio takes State of the Arts producer Christopher Benincasa on a tour of New Jersey through Smithson’s eyes, using the artist’s seminal 1967 essay “Monuments of Passaic” as a street map. Benincasa also visits the Smithson retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (June 23, 2005-October 23, 2005), and follows the voyage of Smithson’s Floating Island to Travel Around Manhattan Island – a scaled-down Central Park pulled along the Hudson River by a tug boat. In celebration of the retrospective coming to New York, the Whitney Museum and the arts organization Minetta Brook collaborated to produce Floating Island - one of Smithson’s many unrealized concepts.
 Read
Smithson’s “Monuments
of Passaic”, an essay originally
published in Art Forum
 Curator Eugenie Tsai on Non Sites
New York Times writer Benjamin Gennochio on the essay 'Monuments of Passaic'
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Smithson building Spiral Jetty,
Great Salt Lake, Utah, April 1, 1970
Spiral Jetty,
Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1970
Spiral Jetty,
Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1970
Floating Island to Travel Around Manhattan, 1970
Pencil on paper, by Robert Smithson
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the eroica trio
The Eroica Trio is one of classical music's premiere Grammy-nominated chamber groups. Composed of three glamorous and intense women, they have known each other and performed together since childhood. The Eroica Trio regularly performs Beethoven's Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra, which is featured in the story in a performance with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. Beethoven's dramatic concerto embodies forces of nature much as The Eroica Trio, itself, projects forces of nature when they perform and rehearse through their passion and impeccable technique. State of the Arts producer Eric Schultz met pianist Erika Nickrenz (a Denville, NJ resident), cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio, and violinist Adela Peña. He discussed with them their drive to succeed as women in what is still a male-dominated field, and how they balance their top-tier musical careers with motherhood (each member of the Trio has a son under the age of four).
 Listen to the Eroica Trio performing the first movement of Beethoven’s “Triple Concerto, Opus 56”
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The Eroica Trio: violinist Adela Peña, cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio, and pianist Erika Nickrenz (top)
The Eroica Trio: (L to R) cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio, violinist Adela Peña, and pianist Erika Nickrenz
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miss witherspoon
Forces of Nature turns to the supernatural in "Miss Witherspoon," a new comedy by the acclaimed playwright Christopher Durang that was given its world premiere in fall 2005 at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton (prior to a New York run). Miss Witherspoon is a persnickety woman caught in a cycle of reincarnation against her will. Previous lives include "a ringside seat at the Salem witch trials and an exasperating tendency to run into Rex Harrison"; now she must face new tribulations in the 21st century. State of the Arts producer Amber Edwards talks to the playwright and to director Emily Mann. |
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Mahira Kakkar and Kristine Nielsen in the McCarter Theatre production of “Miss Witherspoon”
Kristine Nielsen (Miss Witherspoon) in the McCarter Theatre production of “Miss Witherspoon”
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thomas george
Mountains, seas, skies, trees: these are the enduring subjects of abstract artist Thomas George's lifetime of work. A Princeton resident since 1969, George has traveled extensively. He is drawn especially to the dramatic landscapes of Norway, China, and New Mexico, which appear repeatedly in his drawings and paintings. George gives State of the Arts producer Susan Wallner a tour of his 2005 retrospective at the Princeton University Art Museum, and speaks of his development as an artist over more than 60 years.
Read “A Conversation with Thomas George” by Harry Naar, Professor of Fine Arts & Gallery Director,
Rider University. It was conducted on the occasion of “Thomas George: New Work, Drawings and Pastels,” an exhibit that was on view at at the Rider University Art Gallery from March 2 – April 6, 2006.
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Thomas George (1967)
Grinding Stone Mt. (So. Side)
Ink on paper
The Pond, Institute for Advanced Study, 9 AM, Oct. 11, 1993.
Pastel
Sunstorm.
Watercolor, 2003
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