Enough with the monolith, OK? For starters, in Greek “mono” means “one” and “lith” means “stone.” A monolith is a large monument made from one, solid piece of stone. The Utah desert’s short-lived guerilla art project would have more accurately been called a poly-metal (both also words of Greek origin): two pieces of aluminum riveted together which any competent sheet metal worker with a tool called a brake could have knocked out in an hour. We’re not talking high art here.
Was the installation clever? Well, maybe as kind of a fun homage to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The problem is we have laws for what can and can’t be done on public lands. If, for example, a porn fan put a giant blow-up dildo on top of George Washington’s head at Mt. Rushmore, that would be breaking the law… setting aside the matter of poor taste.
Whoever removed the thing did well. It saved the feds from having to do it. I kind of hope the “artists” did. Maybe they’ll put it on private land with similar geography and get people to come and pay to look at it. Hey, that’s the American way, right?
Jim Catano, Salt Lake City