Levitated Mass LACMA

Went to Shin Sen Gumi in Gardena with a few friends, then went to Tapioca Express to pick up my car. However, we ended up getting grounded by cops for 30 minutes, all exits were closed due to a transportation of a big piece of rock.

Apparently it was a big deal. The transportation was reportedly a 10 million dollar project. The trucks were rigged specifically to transport this huge boulder across cities to LACMA (Los Angeles City Museum of Arts). It could only be moved at night, taking specifics routes that allowed for the oversized truck, and can only move at speeds of 8mph.

It also gathered quite a crowd of Art buffs. It was sheer coincidence to see this piece of rock moving through the streets because they had to take apart power lines and traffic signals to make room for the trucks.

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 granite boulder. As the viewer descends through the monumental slot, the boulder appears to rise.

Through Heizer originally conceived of Levitated Mass in 1968, he only discovered an appropriate boulder decades later, in RIverside County, CA. At 340 tons, the boulder is one of the largest megaliths moved since ancient times.

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.

For more information visit lacma.org/levitatedmass.