Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels
American artist, Nancy Holt began her artistic career in photography and video after graduating from Tufts University with a degree in biology. Holt is primarily associated with land art, although she was also involved with other mediums consisting of film, photography, sculpture, as well as publishing various books. In 1963, three years after graduating, Holt married an earth art pioneer by the name of Robert Smithson. Together they composed a collaborative film titled Swamp in 1969. It is said that photography and camera optics widely influenced Holt’s later environmental works which include but are not limited to Sun Tunnels (1976), Astral Grating (1987), and Up and Under (1998). Holt had a great fascination with space, time and connecting humanity to the earth which she shows in many of works, most specifically in Sun Tunnels. Located on 40 acres of land in the Great Basin Desert lays one of Holt’s most famous works, an 88-ton installation titled Sun Tunnels. These tunnels consist of four massive concrete culverts, each 18-foot long by nine foot in diameter. The grey concrete cylinders are laid out in an open X formation, making it possible to view the summer and winter solstices.
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Pierced on the skyward sides of the tunnels are carefully selected star constellations (Draco, Perseus, Columba and Capricorn). In an interview with ArtReview Holt describes her process of choosing these specific constellations. “Choosing which constellations of stars was an aesthetic decision.” said Holt. From there she went on to say that there needed to be enough stars of different magnitudes in order for the constellations to wrap around the upper half of the cylinder. The addition of the constellations were thought to bring the sky down to earth and give the affect of walking on stars while visitors were in the tunnels during daylight hours. The 1976 completion of Sun Tunnels was made possible due to Holt’s vision and the collaboration between engineers, astronomers, pipe manufacturers, drillers, and truck drivers. While being interviewed by ArtReview magazine it was brought up that Holt was the only female on the construction site while the concrete tunnels were being made. Holt was asked if this brought her any difficulties and she responded by saying “When a vision is strong enough, then the intensity of the desire to make the art seems to obliterate many obstacles”. That is not to say she didn’t encounter any obstacles during this process. When transporting and pouring the concrete workers had to act fast in order to prevent the concrete from hardening in the cement mixer. Holt came across this problem because of the deserted location she chose for the installation. Holt once said “In vast spaces you yearn for containment, orientation, stillness” which may be her reasoning for choosing the Utah desert for the construction of Sun Tunnels. Similar to Sun Tunnels was a work created in 1998 titled Up and Under.
This installation was site-specific and was constructed in a precise alignment. Up and Under is made up of four interconnected tunnels that snake through the earth. All four tunnels are aligned according to the North Star. When visitors stand in the middle mound, all four tunnels align while the tunnel above directs their view to the sky. Up and Under was developed out of Holt’s interest in sight and vision. Small amounts of soil and earth were collected from towns all over Finland and were mixed together directly beneath the tunnels. This gave a conceptual aspect to the installation and grounded the sculpture in its location. This particular installation resides in Finland and took nearly a decade to
complete. Both installations share many of the same elements of art and principles of design. The quite obvious elements of both Up and Under and Sun Tunnels are shape, texture and space. The two are similar in shape as they are both circular tunnels and both three dimensional, although Up and Under is quite larger in size. As mentioned earlier both are site-specific and take up space in similar ways. Their locations were strategically picked in order to provide visitors with the optimal experience and sights. Since both are made of concrete the texture is smooth to the touch and eye. Up and Under differs in that the tunnels peek out of grassy mounds. As for principles they each consist of some type of symmetry and depth. Each tunnel, on both of the works, were thoughtfully placed in proportion to the other tunnels.
Pierced on the skyward sides of the tunnels are carefully selected star constellations (Draco, Perseus, Columba and Capricorn). In an interview with ArtReview Holt describes her process of choosing these specific constellations. “Choosing which constellations of stars was an aesthetic decision.” said Holt. From there she went on to say that there needed to be enough stars of different magnitudes in order for the constellations to wrap around the upper half of the cylinder. The addition of the constellations were thought to bring the sky down to earth and give the affect of walking on stars while visitors were in the tunnels during daylight hours. The 1976 completion of Sun Tunnels was made possible due to Holt’s vision and the collaboration between engineers, astronomers, pipe manufacturers, drillers, and truck drivers. While being interviewed by ArtReview magazine it was brought up that Holt was the only female on the construction site while the concrete tunnels were being made. Holt was asked if this brought her any difficulties and she responded by saying “When a vision is strong enough, then the intensity of the desire to make the art seems to obliterate many obstacles”. That is not to say she didn’t encounter any obstacles during this process. When transporting and pouring the concrete workers had to act fast in order to prevent the concrete from hardening in the cement mixer. Holt came across this problem because of the deserted location she chose for the installation. Holt once said “In vast spaces you yearn for containment, orientation, stillness” which may be her reasoning for choosing the Utah desert for the construction of Sun Tunnels. Similar to Sun Tunnels was a work created in 1998 titled Up and Under.
This installation was site-specific and was constructed in a precise alignment. Up and Under is made up of four interconnected tunnels that snake through the earth. All four tunnels are aligned according to the North Star. When visitors stand in the middle mound, all four tunnels align while the tunnel above directs their view to the sky. Up and Under was developed out of Holt’s interest in sight and vision. Small amounts of soil and earth were collected from towns all over Finland and were mixed together directly beneath the tunnels. This gave a conceptual aspect to the installation and grounded the sculpture in its location. This particular installation resides in Finland and took nearly a decade to
complete. Both installations share many of the same elements of art and principles of design. The quite obvious elements of both Up and Under and Sun Tunnels are shape, texture and space. The two are similar in shape as they are both circular tunnels and both three dimensional, although Up and Under is quite larger in size. As mentioned earlier both are site-specific and take up space in similar ways. Their locations were strategically picked in order to provide visitors with the optimal experience and sights. Since both are made of concrete the texture is smooth to the touch and eye. Up and Under differs in that the tunnels peek out of grassy mounds. As for principles they each consist of some type of symmetry and depth. Each tunnel, on both of the works, were thoughtfully placed in proportion to the other tunnels.