top of page

50 years work, 40 million $… Discover "City", the largest work of contemporary art in the world

  • Writer: gerard van weyenbergh
    gerard van weyenbergh
  • Aug 26, 2022
  • 1 min read

Updated: Jun 4, 2023


American artist Michael Heizer began the construction of "City" in the 1970s. It will finally open to the public.

Better late than never will doubtless say the gossips. After 50 years of work, the incredible work of artist Michael Heizer, specializing in large-scale sculptures and "Land art", will open to a limited number of visitors on the site of the Triple Aught Foundation from September 2 in the Nevada desert, United States.

Baptized "City", the work, still "unfinished" according to the artist and which extends over a little more than 2 kilometers, shines with its gigantism and its eccentricity. Since laying the foundation stone in the early 1970s, no less than 40 million dollars have been spent to complete the project. Initially financed by Heizer himself, the construction eventually received the support of many collectors, institutions and patrons throughout the half-century. The sculpture, far from the idea of ​​the cities we know today, made of a mound of earth, rocks and large concrete elements, is intended as a tribute to ancient ruins. "I'm not here to tell people what all of this means. You can find out for yourself,"

One of its two great monuments, "Complex One", the very first segment of "City" built by Heizer, can evoke a huge altar. The other building, called "45°, 90°, 180°", consists of a concrete square supporting several rows of increasingly imposing triangles and rectangles.

Seen in Yahoo France article by Cyprien Tardieu


 
 
 

Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet

Add a rating
bottom of page