Road to Nowhere

Nancy Holt
1971
16 mm film; color, silent
Duration: 2 minutes, 57 seconds

In April 1971, Nancy Holt made Road to Nowhere with her Bolex camera while traveling to the Florida Keys. Like the other Florida films, it runs for 2 minutes and 57 seconds, corresponding to a 100-foot daylight spool and establishing a fixed duration. Shot in real time, the film records a solitary walk along a sandy path that leads toward an expanse of blue sky. It shows the journey from Holt’s point of view, a key characteristic of the moving image work she made in the early 1970s. Writing on the work, Lori Zippay notes: "Devoid of sound or language, evoking calm instead of chaos, Road to Nowhere serves as her solo counterpoint to Holt and Smithson’s dialogue of voice and vision in Swamp." Road to Nowhere focuses on duration and direction, with the camera maintaining a steady forward movement.

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