Conrad Bakker Recreated All 1,100+ Books in Pioneering Land Artist Robert Smithson’s Personal Library

A self-taught artist and thinker, Robert Smithson has firmly established himself as a leading figure in the land art movement during his brief life. Together with his spouse and fellow artist Nancy Holt, Smithson innovated a creative approach that examined the interplay between art, landscape, and knowledge formation.

Upon his untimely death in a plane crash at the age of 35 in 1973, Smithson left behind an extensive personal library that showcased his varied interests: it included texts on geology, paleontology, mythology, children’s literature, as well as literary staples like James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake and Jorge Luis Borges’ Ficciones. Following his passing, Holt donated the entirety of Smithson’s library—comprising about 1,120 volumes—to the Archives of American Art, where it remains to this day.

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Another intriguing avenue to explore the stories and materials that influenced Smithson’s intellectual landscape is through the recent efforts of artist Conrad Bakker. He has undertaken an ambitious five-year project to recreate every title from Smithson’s original library at a 1:1 scale. This exhibit, dubbed “Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club,” has traveled across numerous venues, from Utah to New York, encapsulating both a heartfelt tribute to Smithson and a thought-provoking examination of information access and consumption.

“I can’t pinpoint my initial encounter with Robert Smithson, but I’ve always admired his work, especially the way he designed his sculptures to harmonize with gallery spaces and the natural world,” Bakker reflects. His introduction to Smithson’s library came through Ann Reynolds’ Robert Smithson: Learning from New Jersey and Elsewhere, which thoroughly listed every book and edition in the collection.

“I was fascinated by this remarkable catalog and intrigued by the wide array of subjects he explored, the depth of his self-driven education through literature,” Bakker explains, noting that the library serves as a “time capsule of artistic research from the 1960s.” He envisioned this book collection as an extension of Smithson’s curiosity and thought processes.

This fascination led to one aspect of Bakker’s ongoing Untitled Projects, a series focused on recreating everyday objects, such as chocolate bars and VHS tapes, to examine economic systems and concepts of production and consumption. Utilizing images from online sellers, he crafted detailed wooden replicas of each book edition.

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Displayed in intriguing cardboard-like boxes and stacked creatively, Bakker’s installation has morphed into various formats, including expansive room-sized displays and a complete bookstore setup in the Famous Hardware building’s storefront in Springdale, Arkansas. While Smithson’s library remains preserved in his studio, the “Book Club” facet of the project permitted collectors to acquire additional sculptures periodically. Approximately 350 extra pieces were created specifically for this component.

Bakker’s engagement with these books extends beyond just the library. His endeavors include an archive featuring self-help books from the 1970s, coupled with a used paperback sale. For Bakker, these objects represent numerous avenues of investigation into “books as historical artifacts, cultural touchstones, commodities, public spaces, and outdated technologies, all functioning as carriers of knowledge, directions, and ideas,” he elaborates.

Currently, Bakker is involved in several upcoming projects, including plans for a full-scale copy shop reminiscent of a 1980s Kinko’s, set to be featured at The Weather Station in Lafayette, Indiana. In early 2026, he will unveil a piece addressing capitalism’s relationship with climate change at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. The library is also on its way to Stockholm in the near future, so be sure to follow the project’s Instagram for updates on its journey.

If you enjoyed this piece, you might also like Bernie Kaminski’s papier-mâché creations or Matt Stevens’ Good Movies as Old Books.

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