Sun Tunnels
1973-76 Nancy Holt, Great Basin Desert, Utah. Concrete, steel, and earth. Total length: 86 ft.
Tunnel length: 18 ft.
© Holt-Smithson Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photograph by Nancy Holt.
Site:
The Great Basin Desert in Northwestern Utah, about 4 miles southwest of Lucin (pop. 10) and 9 miles east of the Nevada border.
Dimensions:
Total length: 86 ft.
Tunnel length: 18 ft.
Tunnel diameters outside: 9 ft. 2-1/2 in.
Tunnel diameters inside: 8 ft.
Wall thickness: 7 1/2 in.
Orientation:
The tunnels are aligned with the sun on the horizon (the sunrises and sunsets) on the solstices.
Each tunnel has a different configuration of holes
corresponding to stars in four constellations:
Draco, Perseus, Columba, Capricorn