Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
Photograph: Tom Martinelli, 2009
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
Photograph: Tom Martinelli, 2009
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
Photograph: Tom Martinelli, 2009
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
Photograph: Tom Martinelli, 2009
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
Photograph: Tom Martinelli, 2009
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
Photograph: Tom Martinelli, 2009
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
Photograph: Tom Martinelli, 2009
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
Photograph: Tom Martinelli, 2009
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park [detail] ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
Gunited concrete, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water, earth, grass, plants, willow oak
Overall surface acrea: Two-thirds of an acre (.27 ha)
Sphere diameters: three 8 ft. (2.4 m) and two 6 ft. 6 1⁄2 in. (1.9 m)
Pool diameters: one 18 ft. (5.4 m) and one 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Pool depth: 1 ft. 6 in. (45.7 cm)
Large tunnel: L. 25 ft. (7.6) x inner Diam. 10 ft. (3 m)
Small tunnel: L. 15 ft. (4.5m) x inner Diam. 3 ft. (.91 m)
Pole heights: two 20 ft. (6.1 m) and two 16 ft. 8 5⁄8 in. (5.1 m)
Pole diameter: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Sun/shadow alignment: The shadows cast by the spheres and the steel poles line up with the shadow patterns on the ground each year on August 1 at approximately 9:32 a.m., the anniversary of the day in 1860 when William Henry Ross acquired land that later became Rosslyn.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
People enjoying Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
People enjoying Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park ( 1979-1984)
Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
The site in Rosslyn, Virginia before construction of Dark Star Park.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
The site in Rosslyn, Virginia before construction of Dark Star Park.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Informational brochure on Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park (1979-84)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Informational brochure on Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park (1979-84)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Construction of the gunited concrete spheres in Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park (1979-84).
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Construction of the gunited concrete spheres in Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park (1979-84).
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Construction of the gunited concrete spheres in Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park (1979-84).
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Construction of the gunited concrete spheres in Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park (1979-84).
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Construction of the concrete walls in Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park (1979-84).
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Construction of the concrete walls in Nancy Holt's Dark Star Park (1979-84).
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt using a helioscope to model the shadow alignment for Dark Star Park.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt using a helioscope to model the shadow alignment for Dark Star Park.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt using a helioscope to model the shadow alignment for Dark Star Park.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt using a helioscope to model the shadow alignment for Dark Star Park.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt at Dark Star Park shortly after its completion in 1984.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt at Dark Star Park shortly after its completion in 1984.
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Holt designed Dark Star Park in concert with the development of the site as a whole, integrating landscaping and sculptural features to encompass the neighboring building and adjacent traffic island. Concrete spheres are interspersed throughout the park, visible through tunnels, reflected in pools of water, and framed in the carved-out hole of another sphere. Every year on Dark Star Park Day people gather to watch the shadow alignment. The shadows cast by the concrete spheres and the steel poles align with asphalt shadow patterns on the ground at 9:32 AM on August 1—the anniversary of the land’s acquisition by William Henry Ross in 1860. Dark Star Park contemplates the physical and ideological structures of land ownership while quoting the cosmos.
Monument wars contesting public space. Controversies arising over renovations of Brutalist landscape design. As the custodian of a world-renowned artist-designed park now in its fourth decade, these recent developments resonate. The idea that public sculpture, parks, and plazas are subject to changing mores as manifestations of our collective identity has never been more evident.1
Every time I travel from Strasbourg, where I live and work, to Princeton, where I go for research, I fly from Frankfurt to Newark and then drive to my destination. The landscape is made of highways, parking lots, office buildings, motels, and occasional vegetation, but nothing stands out and invites one to pause. Nancy Holt’s unfinished Sky Mound (1984-1991) was meant to catch the eye, provoke awe and tear the texture of suburban New Jersey by its stunning difference.
With Dark Star Park I am continuing, among other things, my concerns with the architectural form of the tunnel and its various symbolic ramifications—birth, death, transition, etc., and with illusions of ordinary perception, especially as perception is altered by curvilinear forms.
—Nancy Holt
Holt, Nancy. “Dark Star Park.” In Nancy Holt: Sightlines, edited by Alena J. Williams, University of California Press, 2011, pg 118-119. Originally published in a slightly different form in the brochure Dark Star Park: Rosslyn, Arlington County, Virginia: Nancy Holt, produced by Arlington County, Virginia, in 1984 on the occasion of the park’s dedication.
Gravity is the power source in Holt’s bucolic plumbing system, with water from an elevated reservoir flowing down through the structure of pipes into a pre-existing ditch. Dating back to the 18th century, this ditch is dubbed a “ha-ha” by Irish hunters because of the surprise they experienced when encountering it. Gravity is the power source in Holt’s bucolic plumbing system, with water from an elevated reservoir flowing down through the structure of pipes into a pre-existing ditch. Dating back to the 18th century, this ditch is dubbed a “ha-ha” by Irish hunters because of the surprise they experienced when encountering it.
In the fall of 1972 Nancy Holt was invited to be an artist in residence at the University of Rhode Island in Kingstown, and during her stay she created the earthwork Views through a Sand Dune. Working with a group of students on Narragansett Beach, Holt inserted a five-foot long cement-asbestos pipe directly through a large sand dune on the beach. Tuned to the proportions of the body and installed through the sand dune at eye-level, the pipe piercing the dune serves as an aperture to be looked through.
