Nancy Holt, Inside Out (1980)
Graphite pencil and ink on paper
11 x 13 5/8 in. (27.9 x 34.6 cm)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Inside Out (1980)
Graphite pencil and ink on paper
11 x 13 5/8 in. (27.9 x 34.6 cm)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Inside Out (Washington, D.C., NW)—for the International Sculpture Conference (1980)
Graphite pencil on paper
26 x 36 in. (66 x 91.4 cm)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Inside Out (Washington, D.C., NW)—for the International Sculpture Conference (1980)
Graphite pencil on paper
26 x 36 in. (66 x 91.4 cm)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Inside Out: Ground Plan [verso] (1980)
Graphite pencil on paper
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Inside Out: Ground Plan [verso] (1980)
Graphite pencil on paper
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Inside Out: Ground Plan (1980)
Graphite pencil on paper
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Nancy Holt, Inside Out: Ground Plan (1980)
Graphite pencil on paper
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
In developing her sculpture Inside Out (1980), Nancy Holt mapped out its structure in a series of drawings. She carefully noted its site, installation, materials, and the plantings that frame the wrought-iron structure. Holt’s site-responsive sculptures, such as this one, have the potential to be installed in alternative locations, and these works on paper provide clear instructions for how to do so. Inside Out was developed while Holt was completing Wild Spot (1979–80) and formulating proposals for sculptures situated within the controlled landscapes of university campuses.
Constructed from circular wrought-iron fencing elements associated with the design of public parks and gardens, Holt's "Inside Out" takes the form of a cylindrical structure that visitors could enter through openings aligned with the northwest and southeast compass points.
In 1979 Nancy Holt was invited to develop a sculpture for the campus of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, for an exhibition titled Sitework on show between May and August 1980, curated by Judy Fox. Wild Spot is almost hidden in the landscape in what Holt described as a “natural cove.” It comprises a pair of nested steel-fencing rings. The outer one can be entered, while the inner circle, which cannot be entered, holds native wild flowers.
