Spitball exemplifies Smith’s experimentations with complex geometries in abstract sculpture, specifically his exploration of complex, mathematical geometries derived from crystallographic structure.
Though Smith had successfully worked as an architect since the 1940s, even spending time under the tutelage of Frank Lloyd Wright, Smith eventually became disillusioned by the impermanence of his work and the constant cycles of compromise necessary to dealing with clients. He abandoned his architectural practice around 1960 in order to focus his attention on art making, enabling him to assume total creative control over his work.
Smith began to construct small sculptural maquettes based on tetrahedral and octahedral forms, bringing his work into larger, more grandiose proportions in the following years. Smith’s sculptures are explorations of scale and monumentality based on the concept of continuous three-dimensional space lattices derived from sophisticated geometry.
Spitball achieves an enrapturing presence through its dramatic economy of means, powerfully encapsulating how Smith pioneered the realm of sculpture: the work rises up out of itself, appearing to be at once work of art from an idealized future and a distant, forgotten past.