Double Negative, Land art on Mormon Mesa in Clark County, US

Double Negative is a work of art consisting of two deep cuts carved into the edge of Mormon Mesa, aligned across a natural ravine that runs between them. Each trench extends straight through the reddish sandstone, forming a continuous line about 1500 feet (457 meters) in total length.

Michael Heizer created Double Negative in 1969, moving 244,000 tons of rhyolite and sandstone. Art dealer Virginia Dwan bought the 60-acre site and held the deeds until she donated the work to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in 1984. The agreement barred conservation, leaving the trenches to weather and erosion.

The title refers to the negative space left by removing rock, and Heizer long resisted museum display of the work, blocking a gallery sale in 1971 and later asking that no images of it appear in MoCA's 2012 land art survey. He donated the site to MoCA in 1984 with the condition that no conservation be undertaken, letting weather and erosion alter it.

A vehicle with high clearance is necessary to navigate the unpaved desert tracks leading to the site in Moapa Valley. The drive from Las Vegas takes about two hours and involves dusty roads with no signage.

Heizer blocked the Dwan Gallery from selling the work in 1971, and Virginia Dwan, who had bought the 60-acre site in 1969, gave it to MoCA in 1984. In 2021 a planned solar development nearby was rejected after residents protested its effect on the sculpture.