Holt's "Sky Mound" drawings in "Waste" at Museum Ostwall
Museum Ostwall at the Dortmunder U presents the exhibition Waste. An exhibition about the global routes of rubbish, which features works by Nancy Holt relating to her unfinished project Sky Mound (1984-). Waste is on view through July 26, 2026.
The worldwide circulation of waste and its consequences for people and the environment are the focus of the exhibition, which presents over 50 international works of art. Since the 1960s, artists have increasingly engaged in a critical exploration of what society considers to be waste.
Sky Mound was developed for a landfill in New Jersey. In 1993, Holt described landfills as “shunned earthen forms – forgotten trash heaps relegated to the realms of the unconscious. By the end of the century, with more reliance on improved methods of recycling and incinerating our refuse, laws will go into effect which will prohibit the use of landfills for garbage disposal. These heaps of garbage will be seen as the artifacts of our generation, our legacy to the future.”
Waste presents five of Holt’s drawings for this ambitious project, alongside documentation of the early stages of its construction.
Nancy Holt's Sky Mound under construction in 1991
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
