Levitated Mass, Doug Pray 2014
By Ali Tenenbaum
This is a documentary about a wacky, genius artist (Mike Heizer), his many followers and a big rock.Heizer finds a big boulder at a quarry he feels is special and plans, with a museum, to make it into a piece of art. Turns out, it’s a logistical nightmare to transport the 340 ton slab of granite sixty miles from the desert to Los Angeles, install it and leave it there for all the world to see.
The intrepid monolith's snail-paced 10-day journey becomes a minor media sensation. Seeing the slice of Americana that comes out to watch the procession is where the film shines. When something like that rolls through your town you are either annoyed & boycotting or excited & embracing it, even tailgating and partying to celebrate!Watching people’s anticipation and eagerness to be part of the moment elevates the rock to cult hero status and evokes feelings of heartwarming promise. If you deliver it...they will come.
You can call it sculpture, you can call it a rock you can even call it crazy but it’s super cool.It lives outdoors at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art – hope grandma and the kid get to see the real thing some day but to start, go see Levitated Mass.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC, its affiliates, or its employees.
