We have all seen those trucks on the road carrying a ‘wide load,’ but this load trumps them all. No boulder this size has been moved since ancient times! This exhibit will be ground breaking, historic, and beautiful. Watch for this giant boulder as it makes its journey from quarry to museum over the next few days.
Levitated Mass by artist Michael Heizer is composed of a 456-foot-long slot constructed on LACMA‘s campus, over which will be placed the 340-ton granite megalith. Heizer conceived of the artwork in 1968, but discovered an appropriate boulder only decades later, in Riverside County, California. At 340 tons, the boulder is one of the largest megaliths moved since ancient times. Taken whole, Levitated Mass speaks to the expanse of art history, from ancient traditions of creating artworks from megalithic stone, to modern forms of abstract geometries and cutting-edge feats of engineering.
The quarry where the boulder was taken resides in Jurupa Valley, in Riverside County. After months of research, engineering studies, and collaboration with officials in four counties and twenty-two cities, engineers at Emmert International have established a fairly circuitous route that avoids freeways, overpasses, and any streets or bridges deemed too weak to support the transporter and cargo.
The transport will take eleven nights all together, with movement happening only at night—traveling about 8 miles per hour roughly between the hours of 11 pm and 5 am each night.
The boulder started its move this Tuesday, February 28, and will arrive to LACMA early in the morning on Saturday, March 10. During each day it will be parked in specially identified areas. These daytime stops will be your best and most convenient opportunities to see the boulder during this historic move.
This is the path the boulder will take from the quarry in Riverside County to its permanent location at LACMA.
Once the megalith arrives to LACMA, they will spend the next few weeks installing it over the 456-foot-long slot behind the Resnick Pavilion. The exhibit will allow visitors to walk down a corridor cut in the ground, the deepest level at 15 feet and be able to view a 340-ton boulder, which is as tall as the Resnick Pavilion building it will be next to, from the bottom. The artwork will be ready for public viewing in the late spring/early summer.
Watch a video of construction workers moving the rock here.
Stay tuned for updates and exhibit information.
WHAT: Levitated Mass Exhibit
WHEN: Late spring/early summer
WHERE: LACMA | 5905 Wilshire Blvd. | Los Angeles CA 90036
CONTACT INFO: (323) 857-6000
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Related articles
- 340-Ton Boulder To Begin 105-Mile Journey To LACMA (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
- Los Angeles Museum to Move Massive Boulder for Art Installation (abcnews.go.com)
- Levitated Mass (seaofgray.wordpress.com)
- You: On the road with LACMA’s big rock, minute by minute (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
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