Robert Smithson’s 3 Smoke Tree Circles proposes planting three large rings of smoke trees to create a maze-like structure, showing the idea from an aerial viewpoint. In 1972 and 1973 Smithson made several drawings for outdoor sculptures formed from these shrubs. Smoke trees have distinctive colorful foliage—ranging from yellow to purple—and visually appear as if clouds of smoke. Smithson’s interest in trees can be seen throughout his work: he depicted abstracted landscapes in his early drawings from the late 1960s, replanted uprooted trees with his 1969 series of Upside Down Trees, and made proposals for outdoor arboreal sculptural environments in the early 1970s.

3 Smoke Tree Circles is a proposition for a living sculpture, one that would develop in time. Smoke trees are known for their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. They can endure drought and pollution, and are found both in deserts and in suburban tracts—locations Smithson frequently turned his attention to. In a statement written the same year as this drawing, Smithson wrote, “Nature does not proceed in a straight line, it is rather a sprawling development. Nature is never finished.” Smithson’s ideas too are never finished—rather than giving us statements and answers, he proposes ideas that ignite the imagination.