The nonexistence of things is what the artist takes for “materials.” It is this absence of matter that weighs so heavy on him, causing him to invoke gravity. Artists are not motivated by a need to communicate; travel over the unfathomable is the only condition.

A great artist can make art by simply casting a glance. A set of glances could be as solid as any thing or place.

— Robert Smithson, 1968

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

— Genesis, 1:2–4, 9