Smithson and the land of crystal - 090817

I've been wending my way through a book exploring the work and working method of artist Robert Smithson. Entitled Robert Smithson: Learning from New Jersey and Elsewhere, author Ann Reynolds charts a teleological path through Smithson's abstruse and varied interests. She identifies essays and books he was reading and quoting in his own writing while in process with his art works. His use of aerial maps, mirrors, and of course "earth" as content have larger dimensions than I thought before reading this work. There is a particularly compelling section dealing with Smithson's drive to fully objectivize abstraction in which his interest in "coded environments" informs the non-site concept. It inspired me to work on a composition tentatively called "The Crystal Land", the title of an important eassy he wrote in the late 60's. I'm going to use my own composerly coded environment to generate formal and linguistic content. Smithson's land of crystal is New Jersey, and I'm not really sure I understand what he means yet, but I have picked up a copy of "The Writings of...". I plan to read it while in India. Aptly incongruous for me...