Michael Heizer’s “Levitated Mass” Opens at LACMA

Tags: Land Art, Los Angeles, Upcoming Exhibitions

Over four decades after the conceptualization of “Levitated Mass,” Michael Heizer is finally able to bring the 340-ton environmental sculpture to life at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. True to the original plan, with the only changes being the weight of the stone (an upgrade from 120 tons) and the location (central LA versus the rural Nevada desert), the boulder is situated atop a 456-foot-long, 15-foot deep carving into the earth through which visitors can walk to catch a glimpse of the underbelly of the megalith.

The massive stone has already captured the attention of the city’s residents, who watched in either excitement, anticipation or disgust as the $10 million project made its way from Riverside County, California to the heart of LACMA’s campus on a 105-mile journey through 22 Californian cities. Now nestled in its carved-out home, the sculpture can be viewed up close and personal, putting to rest doubts on its final execution and raising new ones on physics, abstract geometries and the mysterious grandeur of nature.

“Levitated Mass” opens on Sunday, 24 June, with free admission until 1 July for residents of the Los Angeles area.

Review: LACMA’s new hunk ‘Levitated Mass’ has some substance by Christopher Knight, LA Times art critic

Photo via LA Times