NYTimes on the Spiral Jetty, entropy and conservation efforts/intentions.

Personally, I think protecting the jetty from the mining (but I have a double interest there; useful to site a historic artwork as a reason to stave off industrial pillaging of our natural resources... art will save our world!) and the fertilizer pond project nearby while allowing the actual processes of the rising and lowering water levels is quite reflective of Smithson's intentions. That human visitors to the site have interacted with it, perhaps to its detriment perhaps simply another aspect of reflecting after the act of viewing, is rather sweet. As opposed to the sterile environment of museums where a uniformed guard grumbles or gravitates towards a visitor if they dare get too physically close to a piece of art, Land Art projects provide an opportunity to be within the art itself as well. And we could all use being within art more in our lives.