What is a museum? Is a museum merely a building that holds objects of historical value or is a museum anything that encompasses an object of value? The Spiral Jetty is a great work of art designed by Robert Smithson. Smithson used nature, basalt rock, to create a spiral work of art in the middle of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Because the jetty is in a lake, it is greatly effected by the elements and conservationists must decide whether to let nature transform the Spiral Jetty or to interfere and keep the jetty the way it was when it was created by Smithson in 1970.These concerns of preservation leads to the question, does Spiral Jetty make Great Salt Lake a museum? If Great Salt Lake was a museum because it holds one piece of artwork, then every location that has a sculpture, a work of art, or even a historical site would also become a museum. Also, if nature is considered artwork, national parks would also become museums. A line has to be drawn when it comes to what is and is not a museum.
According to the American Association of Museums, a museum is defined loosely as a non-profit organization that owns, cares for, and educates the public about tangible objects with exhibits on a physical site. The Great Salt Lake is not a museum because it is not a building, it is not run by a staff, and it really is not educational in nature or even available to the public on a consistent basis since the jetty is often underwater. If anything the Spiral Jetty and the Great Salt Lake should be part of a national park in order to conserve Smithson's artwork.
Works Cited
Kennedy, Randy. "How to Conserve Art That Lives in a Lake? "New York Times (2009): n. pag. Web. 19 Jan 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com>.
"What Is A Museum?" American Association of Museums. 19 Jan 2010. Web. <http://aam-us.org>.
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