Levitated Mass, Outdoor art installation at LACMA, United States
Levitated Mass is a sculpture on the grounds of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, consisting of a single granite block positioned over a long concrete walkway. The path slopes gently beneath the rock, so you can walk directly underneath it.
Michael Heizer conceived the work in the late 1960s as part of his ideas about monumental land art. The installation was finally realized in 2012 after a suitable boulder was found and transported to the museum site.
The name plays on the apparent weightlessness of the giant stone when you walk beneath it and look up. Visitors experience a quiet reversal of expectations about how heavy and menacing a boulder can feel.
The work stands outdoors on the Resnick North Lawn and needs no museum ticket; it can be seen during museum hours. The concrete trench descends from ground level to 4.5 m at its centre, so the walkway slopes down and back up rather than staying level. Visitors in wheelchairs or with strollers should expect this gradient.
The 340-ton boulder left Stone Valley Quarry in Jurupa Valley on 28 February 2012 on a 90-metre, 196-wheel transporter built by Emmert International. It could only roll at night, at about 11 km/h, and the 171 km route crossed 22 cities in four counties. The trip took 11 days, not eleven nights, and ended at LACMA at 4:30 am on 10 March 2012.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,287 contributors worldwide.
