Page 121 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 121
“wanna walk under the rock?”: land art, time, and tourist passages
Blasted into existence: a pet rock
I didn’t find the rock, the rock found me
Michael Heizer
The rock, a solid block of granite, materialized in 2005 out of the largest blast in the River-
side Quarry in California which required the evacuation of the surrounding area. In Pray’s
documentary (2014), the blast is staged for dramatic purposes followed by the photograph
of the real 2005 blast, explained by the former supervisor in the quarry. The photo depicts a
tiny figure in grey sitting half a mile from the blast, looking at the high, dense colourful clo-
uds of rock, dust, and smoke on the background of the intense blue sky. As Heizer had been
acquiring rocks from the quarry for years he asked the supervisor to give him a call if any
solid big rock appeared. After the call, Heizer arrived the very next day, and according to
the supervisor »recognized« the rock on the spot and ask him to safeguard it. Next Heizer
placed a call to Michael Govan, a director of the LACMA who was familiar with Heizer’s
1969 project and collaborated with him at DIA, Art Foundation in New York. After the
conversation, in which Heizer referred to the rock as the Colossi of Memnon, the predomi-
nant discourse was established: this work, though a clear representation of an American
art, will somehow be connected to the ancient cultures, Egypt in particular, so the referen-
ces to that effect were made during the long production of the sculpture and at the opening
ceremony, included also in the documentary.
Govan, with his fascinating enthusiasm put things in motion from the start, first by
obtaining private funds to buy the rock from the Quarry, next by persuading the somew-
hat sceptical trustees that the project makes sense within the vision he developed for the
LACMA campus. The vision included the connection to huge ancient forms combined
with modern art forms while developing the identity that would be »specific to the pla-
ce«, (Pray, 2014) and he was particularly excited to include »a California rock, and its Ca-
lifornia artist« (ibid.).
Thus the rock was bought, set aside, secured at the quarry while the logistical chal-
lenges of transporting the 340-ton mass from the quarry to the museum were conside-
red. As the weight of the rock was much too great for the highway, the alternative was a
169 km trip through four counties: Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and Los Angeles,
through 22 small towns, each of which had to provide permits for the transport. How to
move the immovable bureaucracy at times appeared a more complex problem than mo-
ving the rock. Groups of engineers and other experts, both at the quarry and the muse-
um, were working to figure out the transporter and the actual positioning of the rock on
the slot, which was being built at the LACMA campus, based on drawings Heizer pro-
vided for the sculpture.
All the meanwhile the workers in the quarry were mystified by all the activities surro-
unding the rock, particularly why would anyone want to move it, saying »you don’t move
something that big, you blow it up but don’t move it, you make smaller stuff out of it you
don’t move it« (Pray, 2014). After a while however they became rather attached to it, as one
of them stated »we just set it aside and it stays there for a long, long time and becomes your
pet rock, not part of your family, but pet rock« (Pray, 2014).
119
Blasted into existence: a pet rock
I didn’t find the rock, the rock found me
Michael Heizer
The rock, a solid block of granite, materialized in 2005 out of the largest blast in the River-
side Quarry in California which required the evacuation of the surrounding area. In Pray’s
documentary (2014), the blast is staged for dramatic purposes followed by the photograph
of the real 2005 blast, explained by the former supervisor in the quarry. The photo depicts a
tiny figure in grey sitting half a mile from the blast, looking at the high, dense colourful clo-
uds of rock, dust, and smoke on the background of the intense blue sky. As Heizer had been
acquiring rocks from the quarry for years he asked the supervisor to give him a call if any
solid big rock appeared. After the call, Heizer arrived the very next day, and according to
the supervisor »recognized« the rock on the spot and ask him to safeguard it. Next Heizer
placed a call to Michael Govan, a director of the LACMA who was familiar with Heizer’s
1969 project and collaborated with him at DIA, Art Foundation in New York. After the
conversation, in which Heizer referred to the rock as the Colossi of Memnon, the predomi-
nant discourse was established: this work, though a clear representation of an American
art, will somehow be connected to the ancient cultures, Egypt in particular, so the referen-
ces to that effect were made during the long production of the sculpture and at the opening
ceremony, included also in the documentary.
Govan, with his fascinating enthusiasm put things in motion from the start, first by
obtaining private funds to buy the rock from the Quarry, next by persuading the somew-
hat sceptical trustees that the project makes sense within the vision he developed for the
LACMA campus. The vision included the connection to huge ancient forms combined
with modern art forms while developing the identity that would be »specific to the pla-
ce«, (Pray, 2014) and he was particularly excited to include »a California rock, and its Ca-
lifornia artist« (ibid.).
Thus the rock was bought, set aside, secured at the quarry while the logistical chal-
lenges of transporting the 340-ton mass from the quarry to the museum were conside-
red. As the weight of the rock was much too great for the highway, the alternative was a
169 km trip through four counties: Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and Los Angeles,
through 22 small towns, each of which had to provide permits for the transport. How to
move the immovable bureaucracy at times appeared a more complex problem than mo-
ving the rock. Groups of engineers and other experts, both at the quarry and the muse-
um, were working to figure out the transporter and the actual positioning of the rock on
the slot, which was being built at the LACMA campus, based on drawings Heizer pro-
vided for the sculpture.
All the meanwhile the workers in the quarry were mystified by all the activities surro-
unding the rock, particularly why would anyone want to move it, saying »you don’t move
something that big, you blow it up but don’t move it, you make smaller stuff out of it you
don’t move it« (Pray, 2014). After a while however they became rather attached to it, as one
of them stated »we just set it aside and it stays there for a long, long time and becomes your
pet rock, not part of your family, but pet rock« (Pray, 2014).
119
