Observatory, from Conspiracy, The Artist as Witness

Robert Morris Observatory from the Conspiracy portfolio The Artist as Witness of 1971 is a lithograph from one zinc plate that exemplifies the Minimalist sculptors engagement with the relationship between sculpture and landscape, a subject that occupied him throughout his career and that produced some of his most ambitious and controversial works. The astronomically aligned earthwork that Morris proposed for a site in the Netherlands was one of a series of large-scale outdoor projects that extended the vocabulary of Minimalist sculpture into the landscape, creating works that functioned as both sculptural objects and astronomical instruments. The Observatory lithograph, which was created as part of a portfolio called Conspiracy: The Artist as Witness that raised funds for the legal defense of the so-called Chicago Seven, depicts the structure of the proposed earthwork in the austere geometric vocabulary of Minimalist sculpture. The lithograph from one zinc plate, with its capacity for flat, even areas of tone and precise Linear definition, allows Morris to create an image of the Observatory that is simultaneously a plan, a diagram, and an independent work of art, a representation of a sculpture that exists in the space between conception and construction. The year 1971 places this lithograph in the period when Morris was expanding his practice from gallery- and museum-based sculpture to large-scale outdoor works that engaged with the landscape and the environment in ways that challenged the conventions of both sculpture and landscape architecture.

Morris Observatory lithograph is a significant document for understanding the development of Earth art and the relationship between Minimalist sculpture and landscape. The Conspiracy portfolio influenced the development of political engagement in the art world and the broader tradition of artists using their work to support social and political causes.

A 1971 lithograph by Morris from the Conspiracy portfolio depicting his proposed astronomically aligned earthwork Observatory in the geometric vocabulary of Minimalist sculpture, created as political engagement for the Chicago Seven legal defense fund.