Sun Tunnels and Archaeoastronomy

Discusses Sun Tunnels (1973-76, illus.) in the Great Basin Desert, Utah by the American artist Nancy Holt and focuses on their astronomical alignment and affinities with Neolithic monuments. The author notes that the tunnels are placed so that they align with sunrise and sunset during the summer and winter solstices, and describes a trip to view them during the summer solstice. She considers the reason that Holt chose to align Sun Tunnels astronomically, and asserts that the artistic interest in astronomically aligned Land art manifest in the works of artists including Holt, Robert Morris, James Pierce, Michelle Stuart, Charles Ross, James Turrell, and Bill Vazan coincided with the increased media interest in the astronomical knowledge of ancient cultures, and in the publication of several works exploring the relationship between astronomy and architecture in ancient civilizations. She describes the ways in which Sun Tunnels charts the passing of time hourly and seasonally, and argues that the work links the viewer with conceptions of primal ancestors living in harmony with the natural world. She concludes by stating that the proliferation of such works coincides with the development of ecological awareness and an increased nostalgia for humanity s primal roots.