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reductive formalism, so that my films are kind of more out of National Geographic documentaries and Roger Corman or something like that. Q: Tell us about problems around the direction of the Jetty, and deciding on scale. RS: That was all done by [me], because I found that some of my original ideas just didn't...I just had to wander around out there until I felt it fit in. It wasn't really calculated according to any geometric thing. It was done by [me]. It had to be sufficiently out into the water so that you could have that sense of sweep-around. So it had to go way out there. I just sent a diagonal out off the shore, and then brought in the Spiral off the diagonal. Q: How long do you expect the Jetty to be there? [Is it fairly permanent?] RS: Yeah, I think it will be there for a while. I mean, if it could withstand all this inundation this summer-they do have hurricane-force winds, but it's so embedded, and the soil actually makes a kind of cement for a while. Then it washes away, but it (the salt) grows up. It'll grow in about two or three days. A rain comes in and washes it, dissolves it. And then it's back to the rock. It's mainly solid rock, so some of the earth will probably wash out, but the basic rock shape will be there. [Significant gap in tape, then continues] RS: ...the center and the circumference. That actually shows up in a lot of my works. Q: There's a lot that's been said about an additive-type process but there's also a more recent process [that is] more or less subtractive. People have talked about the differences, [but I'm curious as to how that applies to your work.] RS: Well, you're always in a sense subtracting something from somewhere. I'm not really interested in excavation-type situations. The piece in Holland was made with drag lines, and it was essentially carved out of this blunt peninsula that existed in front of the boulder that extended into the lake. A series of dikes were built inside one half of the circle. Each dike would be broken, and then the water would flood in, and then another dike would be dug out. Then that would be flooded. So essentially the process is a series of flooding shots and that's probably how I'll develop the film regarding flooding. The piece itself will act as a microcosm for a larger sense of flooding and in particular too, a flood that devastated Holland in the mid-50's. That will all be worked into the film. But no matter how you cut it, as soon as you postulate positive conditions you come up with some kind of idea of negative conditions. It's not a one-way street, for me anyway. If it's dialectical then anytime you posit one thing you can be sure that there will be an opposing possibility as well. So that you always have all those elements operative. I am interested in that. There's always a question about should things remain the same or should they change. As artists, if one is involved in outdoor building like that, you have to realize that was long as you're alive you're going to be in a sense altering your 6
