spiral jetty

I think Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty" is a fantastic piece of organic art. It was composed on the outskirts of the  Great Salt Lake in Utah, in waters polluted by abandoned coal mines. Sure, the artwork itself was probably not intensely difficult to construct, but Smithson had a vision behind it. It served the purpose of being "pretty" but, more importantly, it served the purpose of calling attention to the pollution and the beauty that can be uncovered with just a bit of work. Personally, I feel that the most appealing part of this work, is the experience. It is quite a trek to get to the spot, Smithson having chosen a remote place to place his gift to the earth. Once you make the journey, you are free to walk on the Jetty. This, i believe, is where the true art is. The solitude and freedom of just being there, of feeling the wind around you would be the greatest part, in my opinion.

I have read that the view from and around the Jetty is quite bleak. The mountains, colorless, the basalt boulders jet black. Colors, for me, do not always make an object more appealing. Sometimes, the absence of color says more. It speaks the truth, and leaves out the sugar-coating and extra fluff that most things have nowadays. Smithson may not be widely revered for his work of art, but i think that he created something honest, and without apology.

Esteban Trueba.. epitome of evil?

When Esteban was younger, he worked hard for him and his family to regain a status they once had and was hopelessly in love with Rosa. He sent his mother and sister money, which is impersonal and rather cheap, but he took care of them nonetheless. They say that absolute power corrupt absolutely. I think in Esteban's case, the evil was there all along, but hidden under societal expectations of someone in his class. Once he got rich again, he turned into a monster. He began raping women and feeling no remorse. He cast off his son and other illegitimate children, denying them his family name and forever placing them in the low class. Once he marrys Clara, he actually does love her, but his violence shown is off-putting to her. She, however, has little-to-no attachment towards Esteban, or anything in this world, really. Incapable of harboring many positive feelings towards Esteban, Clara only feels the bad. She sees what is wrong with the way he treats others around him, but when she voices her opinion, it only makes him more violent. The birth of their daughter, Blanca, may seem an opportune time for Esteban to soften towards women, but he only gets more angry as the years go on. He kicks his sister out of his house and sends her money, hoping that will suffice. She, however, does not spend it. Her point was made when he found out about her death and that she was refusing the money. He did feel some remorse for her, but did not change his ways with others. Blanca now was in love with Pedro Tercero and pregnant with his child. He is of the peasant class and, upon finding out about this, Esteban beat Blanca, his pregnant daughter. He then sought out to kill Pedro Tercero. He found him and succeeded in cutting off three of his fingers, but came to the conclusion that he would not like to kill a man in reality. That seems to be his limit on how evil he can be. How can someone like this actually feel little-to-no remorse for his actions? I understand that evil people do not believe that they're evil and this seems to be the case with Esteban. At this point, however, i think he's slowly realizing how awful he is, and I hope he changes it. People like him should not be given any sort of power.