What Mr. Smithson might have thought about the drilling plan is among the issues in dispute. State officials and some art historians, pointing to Mr. Smithson’s own writing about the “Spiral Jetty,” and the film he made about its construction, said he reveled in the juxtaposition of industrialism and beauty, decay and rebirth, rot and permanence.

“The sense of ruined and abandoned hopes interested him,” said Lynne Cooke, the curator at Dia. “He didn’t look for beautiful places, but rather despoiled landscapes where industry and the wild overlap.”

The owner of “Spiral Jetty,” the Dia Art Foundation in New York and the Friends of Great Salt Lake have sent more than 3,000 e-mail messages to the state. A decision on whether to allow the drilling is expected in April.

Above: Photo by Tom Smart for the NYTimes.