Smithson

1. In “Entropy and the New Monuments”, Robert Smithson talked about there are many architectural concepts found in science-fiction, which most of them have nothing to do with science or fiction, suggest a new kind of monumentality that is more similar with what today's artists are doing. I was confused about what are the scientific characteristics he is referring to? It seems like he didn't really explain that part well enough, or did I just overlook some important points?

2. Smithson talked about the relationship between time and the art work. He claimed that both the past and future are placed into an objective present, however, the past is important while the future is insignificant. Smithson argues that people are influenced to forget about the future than to remember the past, which was his definition of a monument. My question is that if the past has the power over time, which is the reason why past is more influential than the future, how can the artworks has what Flavin called the "inactive history" (10)?