Levitated Mass

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Levitated Mass by artist Michael Heizer is composed of a 456-foot-long slot carved into the earth, over which is placed a 340-ton monolithic granite boulder. As with other works by the artist, such as Double Negative (1969), the monumental negative form is key to the experience of the artwork. Heizer conceived of the artwork in 1968, but discovered an appropriate boulder, which is one component of the greater artwork, only decades later, in Riverside, California. At 340 tons, the boulder is one of the largest monoliths moved since ancient times. Taken whole, Levitated Mass speaks to the expanse of art history, from ancient traditions of creating artworks from monolithic stone, to modern forms of abstract geometries and cutting-edge feats of engineering.

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Image: Michael Heizer, preliminary sketch for Levitated Mass, 2011, courtesy of the artist © Michael Heizer.

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Levitated Mass: Quarry Workers

During a visit to the quarry in Riverside, we talked to the crew about the challenges of moving 340-tons. Moving the monolith is an enormous challenge unfolding over several weeks.

Levitated Mass will be completed and open to the public at LACMA in late fall, 2011.

Really Tall, Really Long, Really Heavy, Really Big

September 27, 2011

As someone working behind the scenes at LACMA, I’ve been aware of Michael Heizer’s Levitated Mass for a long time now, mostly looking at drawings the artist made and hearing it described by the two people here closest to the artist and the artwork, Michael Govan and John Bowsher. So it was a great thrill last week to head over to the quarry in Riverside where one part of the artwork, a 340-ton boulder, currently resides. As you may have read in the Los Angeles Times last week, transporting this monolith is a challenge—to put it mildly...

Levitated Mass: Progress Report

October 17, 2011

As you may have surmised from past blog posts or any of the news items already written about Levitated Mass, installing Michael Heizer’s latest artwork is not quite the same as purchasing a painting, shipping it to the museum, and hanging it on the wall. In fact it feels a lot closer to making a building, what...

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