<i>Levitated Mass</i>,The Review

Levitated Mass,The Review

After posting yesterday, I decided to overcome my usual resistance to visit an exhibit or piece on opening day, just to further spite those of you angry at a rock being called art. Full disclosure: part of my hyping this has been a reaction to the absurdity of this on paper. The sheer cost and energy put into creating this work went beyond any adjective I can summon without grinning, though as a conservative I find it refreshing how this came to be: artist Michael Heizer found a way to get his 40-year vision off paper and, with $10 million all privately raised, onto Miracle Mile.

I thought about what I would probably write, whilst making Mrs CAC her Starbucks Surprise (grain alcohol and ginger ale in a Starbucks cup for the long drive). I was probably going to focus on the positives of minimalism, on the hype, on a hundred things I didn't. Yesterday was perfect: high 70s, light breeze, and a waxing crescent moon suspended in the bright blue California sky. You couldn't ask for better weather while enjoying outdoor sculpture. Or when having an epiphany.

Passing Wilshire, the plaza came into full view, along with the crowd. Surprise, even at 5:30 there were still hundreds milling about the campus. If you decide to make the trip, it is free: just enter the park entrance on 6th street and walk towards the Big Fucking Rock. You really can't miss it. Even if the ranting street lunatics try to distract you on Fairfax. Once inside the plaza the gigantic rock is hard to miss:

I seriously could not wait. I had to see it, even if the crowd of people, bicycles and dogs gathered inside and around was a bit distracting. Fun note on the dogs- while people casually streamed into the sculpture and under SMOD Jr, dogs, whether big or small, would go batshit, barking at the giant stone and making a hilarious scene.

The moment where the huge mass begins to block out the sun, something interesting happens. The people staring up and walking under all stop, right at that point. Some even walk back a bit unnerved. There is something about having the normal (sunny day) obscured by the abnormal and challenging that triggers something odd in people. Call it a "this may be a stupid idea" reflex. The "maybe the panicked dog has a point" idea. I walked down the channel and under the stone snapping a good pile of images with the blackberry before I decided to just "experience" the work:

Re-approaching from the Western end, the first thing I noticed were the long shadows cast down from the deep channel and rock. It creates an effect photography can't really capture, it's purely psychological: the buttresses "supporting" the rock actually appear to shrink as you approach it. The mass itself seems to be just sitting there, and its odd edges give an illusion of movement. It appears, temporarily, to be hovering over your head. The supports themselves are obvious if you are look for them, but as I was taking in the giganto-fuck-normous boulder above me, searching around for a hint of the sky, they seemed trite and tiny.

One of two measly buttresses supporting the 680,000 lb stone

Shape of the channel also throws off perspective for size. Rock looks monstrous over the people shadowed underneath

Why?
Why was this done? What was he seeing in the desert in the 1960s when he thought this project up? Why here, in an urban landscape? Snarky answers aside, I was determined to figure it out. The boulder was moved over a hundred miles on a massive rig and dropped over a concrete channel. The rock was secured in place with bolts and buttresses but appears to be just resting there precariously. When the Big One finally hits, it will likely levitate a lot less.

As I'm staring at the rock above me, contemplating the why, I get distracted with the usual troubles in my mind. Debt. More debt with the wedding coming up. My father-in-law's fight with Alzheimers. Bigger problems start racing through my mind- the recession, the upcoming election, etc. The stress of the last few years has weighed on a lot of people. Getting annoyed I'm being mentally derailed while starting at granite, I began to move up the channel, out and away.

Actual moment of epiphany while wearing a stupid hat
That's it. Man has always been in awe of nature and natural forces. We seem so small compared to the bigness of everything around us. As an amateur astronomer, staring out at the Whirlpool Galaxy really brings things down to size. We can be overwhelmed by the massiveness of things we encounter and experience, but we have this sensation because unlike the rest of creation we are aware of ourselves. We have thought, and as such can make our own choices independent of what the rest of our surroundings may intend.

The work is there to challenge you. The mass, dangling over you, a reminder of the countless aspects of our lives we seem to have little control over. The implication of being squished brings to mind the greatest one: death. Not a lot of choices right there in that gigantic hulking mass of indifferent nothing. But the channel is the real key to the work being successful. We move downwards to encounter the mass, to challenge it. Unlike the gigantic boulder, we can keep moving. We make the conscious choice to engage the things we may often find overwhelming.

We also have the choice to beat them back and emerge with a greater sense of ourselves. The rock harkens back to the millenia-long use of stone to symbolize the eternal. I thought the press releases mentioning this were pure quackery, but it is dead right. The rock symbolizes everything we encounter that may intimidate us but which we choose to approach and deal with anyway. The Man V Nature narrative is often the David V Goliath of conflict stories. Storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, swarms etc all spell out a battle that seem to imply poor odds for us. But since we have conscious thought, man can, if he chooses, have the upper hand against most things.

In man's conquest of his surroundings and in his personal battles, we have choices, especially when we break down what is challenging us. Their massiveness is often an illusion, the threat less grave when we actually face them. The 340 ton granite and gravity would love to squash you like a bug, but (for now), it can't. It just sits there. Less awe-inducing, and more pitiful, as visitors pose for cameras, a guy dressed like Jesus staggers around it (seriously, you had to be there), and crap art critics bloviate from under it.

So long, Sweet Megalith Of Death
Final verdict: definitely worth the trip.

Beer helps too.

Posted by: CAC at 01:12 PM

Comments

1 After you're disappointed by the big-ass rock you can mosey over to look at the fake Mammoths stuck in the goo. That's always fun.

Posted by: Cicero at June 25, 2012 01:15 PM (QKKT0)

2 It's a rock.

Posted by: somebody else, not me at June 25, 2012 01:15 PM (nZvGM)

3 Leave it to California to put up something that probably will fall with the first good earthquake.

Posted by: J.R. Ewing at June 25, 2012 01:17 PM (e8kgV)

4 Why indeed? Only in CA.

Posted by: Vic at June 25, 2012 01:18 PM (YdQQY)

5 Did you ask Jesus whether he could make a rock so big even he couldn't lift it? I mean, if we're getting all metaphysical, that seems like a relevant question.

Posted by: Cicero at June 25, 2012 01:18 PM (QKKT0)

6 Thank you CAC. I appreciate this review and I wish I could go see it. If it's still there the next time I go to L.A., I will.

Posted by: elizabethe at June 25, 2012 01:18 PM (T03Ll)

7 It's a rock. Posted by: somebody else, not me at June 25, 2012 01:15 PM (nZvGM)

True that. A big one. And art, it is said. At least it was privately funded.

Posted by: eureka! at June 25, 2012 01:18 PM (xCpfo)

8

1) This is pretty cool, and must be a trip to go see in person. Looks like quite a cool experience.

2) To call this "art" seems like an awfully broad definition of the word "art". The word "art" has been expanded to be so inclusive of everything, that people have lost a real appreciation for what was traditionally known as "art". (In my opinion).

Posted by: dan-O at June 25, 2012 01:18 PM (sWycd)

9 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

Posted by: steevy at June 25, 2012 01:18 PM (Xb3hu)

10 Dude. It's a rock on a platform. Move along already.

Posted by: joncelli, heartless Con and all around unpleasant guy at June 25, 2012 01:19 PM (RD7QR)

11 The levitated mass should have been a giant pair of tittehs.

Posted by: steevy at June 25, 2012 01:19 PM (Xb3hu)

12 Its a rock. You called it art, and you were absurd to even consider the possibility it is art. People should mock both you and the display, much as people should mock a naked emperor showing off his wonderful new outfit.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 25, 2012 01:19 PM (r4wIV)

13 BTW, inside the George C. Page Museum next door there's a skeleton that turns into a semi-hawt Indian chick.

Posted by: Cicero at June 25, 2012 01:19 PM (QKKT0)

14 Help, I'm a rock.

Posted by: Suzy Creamcheeze at June 25, 2012 01:19 PM (vhwRj)

15 I got a rock.

Posted by: Charlie Brown at June 25, 2012 01:19 PM (Gye7Z)

16 More famous rock destinations: The Freedom Rock in Iowa.

http://www.thefreedomrock.com/ (Official Site)

http://is.gd/02AfkA (location)

Posted by: Jay in Ames at June 25, 2012 01:19 PM (UEEex)

17 Sorry, in this case I'm just another sidewalk philistine.

Posted by: Ben at June 25, 2012 01:19 PM (C2Y4l)

18 Put me down for "its a rock".

Posted by: AndrewsDad at June 25, 2012 01:20 PM (C2//T)

19
All this for a ~~flag~~ rock. [shakes head and smiles ruefully]

Posted by: Moochele at June 25, 2012 01:20 PM (BAS5M)

20 It makes me feel so small and insignificant, but then I always feel small and insignificant...

Posted by: Crow T. Robot at June 25, 2012 01:20 PM (136wp)

21 Big rock is big.

Posted by: obviously fluffy at June 25, 2012 01:20 PM (z9HTb)

22
wow a rock on a pedestal

what an engineering marvel

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:20 PM (9Q7Nu)

23 I see you are easily impressed.

Posted by: SMOD at June 25, 2012 01:20 PM (NuPNl)

24 So, essentially, all those who had to have a pet rock as a child, now spend money to look at a larger version that they can't even take home.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at June 25, 2012 01:20 PM (qx7YW)

25 What was he seeing in the desert in the 1960s when he thought this project up?

A Peyote cactus?

Posted by: Buzzsaw at June 25, 2012 01:21 PM (tf9Ne)

26
It's just like the Grand Canyon!

Except smaller.

And less natural.

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:21 PM (9Q7Nu)

27 25
What was he seeing in the desert in the 1960s when he thought this project up?

A Peyote cactus?

Posted by: Buzzsaw at June 25, 2012 01:21 PM (tf9Ne)

A big rock. On a platform. Duh.

Posted by: joncelli, heartless Con and all around unpleasant guy at June 25, 2012 01:21 PM (RD7QR)

28 Boring.

Posted by: EC at June 25, 2012 01:21 PM (GQ8sn)

29 SMOD! Avenge me! Avenge me!

Posted by: Levity Mass at June 25, 2012 01:22 PM (136wp)

30
The levitated mass should have been a giant pair of tittehs.

Posted by: steevy at June 25, 2012 01:19 PM (Xb3hu)

Something like Christina Hendricks, braless?

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 25, 2012 01:22 PM (BAS5M)

31 Call me when somebody actually levitates that rock off the ground. Until then it's false advertising.

Posted by: NC Ref at June 25, 2012 01:22 PM (/izg2)

32 You see with the eyes and soul of an artist, CAC.

I enjoyed your respective and appreciate you doing it despite the comments you know are coming!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at June 25, 2012 01:22 PM (3inkD)

33 Don't underestimate rocks, people.

Posted by: Rick Perry at June 25, 2012 01:22 PM (z9HTb)

34 Who's up for a trip to Vasquez Rocks?

Posted by: Capt. Kirk at June 25, 2012 01:22 PM (Gye7Z)

35
"When the Big One finally hits, it will likely levitate a lot less."

^Earned a snort and a semi-spit-take. Well done.

Posted by: Jaws at June 25, 2012 01:23 PM (4I3Uo)

36 $10,000,000? We could a done the same thing for less that a mil.

Posted by: Fake rock maker at Disney at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (tf9Ne)

37 Bitch Please

Posted by: The Appalachians at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (C2Y4l)

38 I have never wanted so much to go see an art exhibit, particularly something as abstract as this. Consider your mission accomplished, CAC.

Posted by: Caiwyn at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (ttktr)

39 We didn't land on Levitated Mass. Levitated Mass landed on us!

Posted by: Malcolm Holm at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (136wp)

40 I've taken dumps bigger than that thing.

Posted by: The Rockies at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (C2Y4l)

41 I want to print out the third one for my cubicle.

>>Its a rock. You called it art, and you were absurd to even consider the possibility it is art.

You didn't read a fucking word that was written, did you?

Posted by: HeatherRadish� at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (/kI1Q)

42 Meh. Everyone knows it's not *really* art unless someone "accidentally" dies during the installation.

Posted by: Christo at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (xGZ+b)

43
CAC,
Again, great feat of engineering, nice presenation, but wasn't the biggest achievement here that he raised $10 million to do it?
In the last SMOD Jr. Thread you lambasted people who said "I could do this myself" as not being able to. I'm curious did said Artist do it himself either? Or did he take his $10 Million and hire an engineering team, quarry workers and truck drivers to make his dream a reality? Which means his (as I said above) his major achievement was the raising of the money (and to a lesser extent seeing a rock in the desert and deciding on the idea.)
That being said, it's private money and if donors want to spend cash on this, I can't really complain all that much. I hate when people trot out the "starving children" line so I certainly won't resort to that.
Furthermore, I see video games as art (When others don't) so I'm certainly not going to lambast someone's ability to put money towards this, or my choice of expression may be next on the chopping block.
My Humble opinion: Curiousity, interesting, art-ish maybe, but not high art (it's like The Desden Files compared to The Lord of Rings, both are neat in their own way, but only one is "high literature.")

Posted by: tsrblke at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (22rSN)

44
You know what's really cool?

Redwoods.

They are farkin huge. And old.

Never seen one. Some day, though.

I think you can actually drive your car through a redwood somewhere. Like a tree-tunnel. That's cool.

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (9Q7Nu)

45 CLASSIC RAWK!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Truck Monkey at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (jucos)

46 Totally cool...and great write up! I can appreciate the feelings it invokes...but I'm never gonna go so I'm gonna crawl under my house and look up

Posted by: rukiddingme? at June 25, 2012 01:25 PM (MbeEN)

47 Yeah...it's a big rock suspended over a culvert. Pretty neat.

But "pretty neat" doesn't make it art.

This is art:

http://is.gd/51sExf

http://is.gd/5R0qAj

http://is.gd/bi220b

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at June 25, 2012 01:25 PM (nEUpB)

48 Wait until they find out it was made out of paper mache by the Artiste son. In kindergarten.

Posted by: The Huggable Robot Devil at June 25, 2012 01:25 PM (136wp)

49 Giggle.

Posted by: Stone Mountain and Mt. Rushmore at June 25, 2012 01:25 PM (NuPNl)

50 This is a big f'n rock!

Posted by: Slow Joe Biden at June 25, 2012 01:25 PM (JxMoP)

51 Oh, I thought you said "Levitated Ass"

Posted by: Bill Clinton at June 25, 2012 01:25 PM (T0NGe)

52
CAC, if you were smart, you would've got a bunch of pebbles, made your own little miniature versions of this, and then sold them outside.

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:26 PM (9Q7Nu)

53 To call this "art" seems like an awfully broad definition of the word "art".

The definition is already so broad as to have no meaning. Art is what someone says is art. Just like beauty.

Our ancestors worshipped natural features like volcanoes, rivers, and trees. Was that art? Beats me. A better term is "cool", as in, wow, that's cool. That way you aren't a boring, obnoxious art snob, and you can still appreciate something that's different or just impressive. And how can someone dispute whether something is cool. It's totally subjective.

Posted by: pep at June 25, 2012 01:26 PM (YXmuI)

54 Art is like porn. Everyone has a different definition.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, Team Dagny at June 25, 2012 01:26 PM (9TTOe)

55 I get IT.

Posted by: Rachael Corrie at June 25, 2012 01:26 PM (/ZZCn)

56
Nobody even cares about us anymore. The public is fickle, you'll see giant Levitatied Mass. You'll see.

Posted by: Moon Rocks at June 25, 2012 01:26 PM (BAS5M)

57 Fun note on the dogs- while people casually streamed into the sculpture
and under SMOD Jr, dogs, whether big or small, would go batshit, barking
at the giant stone and making a hilarious scene.

That's because dogs are fucking retards.

Posted by: eleven at June 25, 2012 01:26 PM (KXm42)

58 I wonder why no one in Renaissance Firenze never thought of this........

Posted by: Truck Monkey at June 25, 2012 01:27 PM (jucos)

59 Just how I felt last Halloween.

Posted by: Charlie Brown at June 25, 2012 01:27 PM (5H6zj)

60
Go for a hike along a stream or river bed and be awed at the 'levitating masses' all over the fucking place...
better yet, go to Mexican Hat.

Posted by: garrett at June 25, 2012 01:27 PM (Rbrer)

61
You ever see the crazy lady who dances with poodles on yootoob?

This reminds me of that.

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:28 PM (9Q7Nu)

62 Thanks for the review, CAC, it was the next best thing to being there. That is something for which I would detour to LA. I could see my dog barking at it - he growls at flying plastic bags.

Posted by: venus velvet at June 25, 2012 01:28 PM (g94P/)

63 And they say Americans don't make anything anymore

Posted by: Ben at June 25, 2012 01:28 PM (C2Y4l)

64 The definition is already so broad as to have no meaning. Art is what someone says is art. Just like beauty.

This definition works perfectly for me. A big ass rock just sitting (sorry -- levitating) in a minimal geometric setting is pretty damn cool.

It's art to me.

Posted by: eleven at June 25, 2012 01:29 PM (KXm42)

65 Seems more like public space architecture than "art," per se.

Posted by: Y-not at June 25, 2012 01:29 PM (5H6zj)

66 61
You ever see the crazy lady who dances with poodles on yootoob?

This reminds me of that.
Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:28 PM (9Q7Nu)

Nope, but I saw the lady that does other things with poodles on porn tube. It kind of reminds me of that.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, Team Dagny at June 25, 2012 01:29 PM (9TTOe)

67 tl;dr

Oh, and "it's a rock".

Posted by: Andy at June 25, 2012 01:29 PM (5Rurq)

68 'Reinforced and Fully Supported Mass'

Posted by: garrett at June 25, 2012 01:29 PM (Rbrer)

69 Get back to me in a few thousand years.

Posted by: Stonehenge at June 25, 2012 01:30 PM (BAS5M)

70 A little mood music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maoUoFddF88

Posted by: The Political Hat at June 25, 2012 01:30 PM (XvHmy)

71 I'll probably go check it out this week.

Posted by: baldilocks at June 25, 2012 01:30 PM (6kWFm)

72
...and 40 years!?
This guy couldn't come up with anything better in 40 fucking years?

Posted by: garrett at June 25, 2012 01:30 PM (Rbrer)

73 I wonder why no one in Renaissance Firenze never thought of this........

I thought about it, believe me. Let's see Savonarola make a bonfire out of that!

Posted by: Filippo Brunelleschi at June 25, 2012 01:31 PM (YXmuI)

74 In a few centuries, this event for SMOD Junior will be generally considered the seminal event of the West's descent into madness.

Posted by: TooCon at June 25, 2012 01:31 PM (YcTIW)

75 This Is art:

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m2-mg-large.jpg

Posted by: Buzzsaw at June 25, 2012 01:31 PM (tf9Ne)

76 Seems more "design" or "engineering" than "art".

Posted by: micmcn at June 25, 2012 01:32 PM (/3KtX)

77 Reminds me of our own "Shaking Rock Park":

"Shaking Rock derived its name from a 27-ton boulder that was so perfectly balanced atop a granite outcrop that it could be moved by the pressure of a hand. Over time, the elements have disturbed this balance to a degree that the boulder can no longer be moved."

http://tinyurl.com/6woy4ha

Nobody's calling it 'art' though.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at June 25, 2012 01:32 PM (Gye7Z)

78 I'm really impressed that the guy convinced people to give him 10 million dollars. Great job by him because he basically moved a rock.

Posted by: Big T Party at June 25, 2012 01:32 PM (EhUTA)

79 I'll have some of what you're smoking.

Posted by: Tonic Dog at June 25, 2012 01:33 PM (X/+QT)

80 Well, I've seen worse uses for 10 million I guess. I dunno. It just seems to me that real art involves man taking stuff and altering it to either create beauty (or ugliness?)or communicate a specific meaning. I guess maybe the suspension system is art of a sort in order to create a desired visual effect.

Still, I'd be a lot more impressed if a more... complex...structure had been built, or if the rock had been made INTO something. Just taking a natural-ish thing and presenting it doesn't seem like that awesome an accomplishment to me. What talent did he employ here? How does he insure that whatever meaning, or perhaps emotion, he intended is communicated?

Like most things "modern"I rate this a "meh."

Posted by: Reactionary at June 25, 2012 01:33 PM (xUM1Q)

81 Thanks CAC. Even if people don't like they are at least thinking about what art is to them. That is a good thing.

Posted by: Thunderb at June 25, 2012 01:33 PM (Dnbau)

82

If there is an illusion to it, and it sounds like there is, then it's art. The title of the piece makes me think it is an intentional illusion.

If it's just a rock, then it sucks. But if it was a project to make one feel like the rock is actually floating, and if it can actually do so, in a way that's evocative to some degree for everyone, it's art.

Michelangelo's Davit is just a hunk of stone too, but the effort that went into making it a beautiful representation of the human form is what evokes emotion. THis evokes emotion through craft as well. it's just not a pretty picture is all.

Posted by: imp at June 25, 2012 01:33 PM (UaxA0)

83 Posted by: Buzzsaw at June 25, 2012 01:31 PM (tf9Ne)

The greatest design in history? I think that one could make an argument that your example is closer to art than this boulder-over-culvert.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at June 25, 2012 01:34 PM (nEUpB)

84 Wait. Shouldn't it be 1^2 x 2^2 x 3^2 ?!

Posted by: Walter Freeman at June 25, 2012 01:35 PM (kqGWM)

85 In 10 years it'll have advertisements painted on it.

Posted by: Cicero at June 25, 2012 01:35 PM (QKKT0)

86 10 million could have put 20 kids through a top flight med school. Which benifits society?

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, Team Dagny at June 25, 2012 01:35 PM (9TTOe)

87
But if it was a project to make one feel like the rock is actually floating, and if it can actually do so, in a way that's evocative to some degree for everyone, it's art.

Lick this toad and it'll look like it's floating!

Posted by: garrett the artist at June 25, 2012 01:35 PM (Rbrer)

88 In ten years it will be tagged with spray paint and hobos will be living under it

Posted by: Thunderb at June 25, 2012 01:36 PM (Dnbau)

89 We find this installation jejune and derivative. You call that art?

Posted by: Performance Artists at June 25, 2012 01:36 PM (YXmuI)

90

Or David.

Posted by: imp at June 25, 2012 01:36 PM (UaxA0)

91
The buttresses ruin the effect IMO.

He should have designed it with a funnel effect or something similar to reduce the width of the trench below the rock. If the trench width was reduced about 8-10 feet above the floor, thenhe would havehad a justification to not havethe buttresses IMO. I am not an artist or a civil engineer, so YMMV.

Posted by: rd at June 25, 2012 01:37 PM (9sUlj)

92 Michelangelo's Davit is just a hunk of stone too, but the effort that
went into making it a beautiful representation of the human form is what
evokes emotion. THis evokes emotion through craft as well. it's just
not a pretty picture is all

Michelangelo. Pffft.

Posted by: Constantin Brancusi at June 25, 2012 01:37 PM (QKKT0)

93 Seems more "design" or "engineering" than "art".

There's no reason those things can't be art as well. The classic Coke bottle is art.

A classic car is art. Design and engineering.

Posted by: eleven at June 25, 2012 01:38 PM (KXm42)

94 I'd like to see that and contemplate its Rockness.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at June 25, 2012 01:38 PM (u29Gj)

95 What happened to the freakout post?

Posted by: mediumheadboy at June 25, 2012 01:39 PM (x2CNJ)

96 O.o As I prepared to comment on Ace's new post, it vanished.

Or perhaps I only imagined it was there...

Posted by: Kinley Ardal at June 25, 2012 01:40 PM (f6Yc3)

97 What happened to Ace's post?

Posted by: Ma Bell at June 25, 2012 01:40 PM (uVuwp)

98 94 I'd like to see that and contemplate its Rockness.

---------

Perhaps we could get The Rock to contemplate the rock for us.

Cooler would be if we could The Rock to plank the rock for us.

Posted by: Anachronda at June 25, 2012 01:40 PM (IrbU4)

99 Vapor blogging

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 25, 2012 01:40 PM (BAS5M)

100 95 What happened to the freakout post?
Posted by: mediumheadboy at June 25, 2012 01:39 PM (x2CNJ)

There was no freakout post... You saw nothing...

Posted by: The Ilumminati at June 25, 2012 01:41 PM (136wp)

101 Okay, either I got into the Starbucks Special or a post disappeared.

But ace doesn't have a time machine or anything. Nope. No idea why we'd think otherwise.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD 2012 at June 25, 2012 01:41 PM (VtjlW)

102 as i said yesterday....it's not really levitated....it should be renamed.....rock sitting on two walls......

Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at June 25, 2012 01:41 PM (Ho2rs)

103 I think the freakout post freaked out.

Posted by: Brother Cavil presents at June 25, 2012 01:41 PM (GBXon)

104 I really want to know what "spazz-cooties" are

Posted by: Ma Bell at June 25, 2012 01:41 PM (uVuwp)

105
I'll take a Mime Troupe over this, any day.

Posted by: garrett at June 25, 2012 01:41 PM (Rbrer)

106 What happened to Ace's post?
Posted by: Ma Bell at June 25, 2012 01:40 PM (uVuwp)
The horde is angering SMOD by insulting his prophet.

Expect a hail of pebbles later today.

Posted by: CAC at June 25, 2012 01:41 PM (g6Zvi)

107 []iThere was no freakout post... You saw nothing...

Look into this little flashy thingy here.

Posted by: J at June 25, 2012 01:42 PM (YXmuI)

108 Yes, I see now.

Eastasia has always been at war with Eurasia.

Posted by: mediumheadboy at June 25, 2012 01:42 PM (x2CNJ)

109 The spazz cooties have struck!

Posted by: MikeTheMoose Lite! 98% Anger Free! at June 25, 2012 01:42 PM (0q2P7)

110 105
I'll take a Mime Troupe over this, any day.
Posted by: garrett at June 25, 2012 01:41 PM (Rbrer)

Especially if there is hot chick mimes. Nothing like a hot chick that doesn't talk.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, Team Dagny at June 25, 2012 01:42 PM (9TTOe)

111 Thanks CAC. Don't think I'll ever make it to Cali to see this, but I enjoyed your review and the thought you put into it.
Reminds me of a class I took in music school called "Music and the machine." As a classical musician, I was skeptical atthat "turntablism" and compositions usinga Moog synthesizer could be considered music, but my opinions were changed. It's all in your point of view and how you view music/art.
Hope that didn't sound too douche-y.

Posted by: shinypie at June 25, 2012 01:42 PM (Kz85k)

112
But ace doesn't have a time machine or anything. Nope. No idea why we'd think otherwise.<<<

Selfish DICK.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at June 25, 2012 01:42 PM (u29Gj)

113 this blog is going coup coup

Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at June 25, 2012 01:42 PM (Ho2rs)

114 If everything is art, nothing is art.
So let's stop using the word.

This is a big rock placed in an unusual location. Nifty.
Some might find it amusing, some might find it boring, some might find it emotionally disturbing, some might find it thought provoking.
Rather like a groundhog dyed blue.
Or not.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at June 25, 2012 01:42 PM (C8mVl)

115 There was no freakout post... You saw nothing...

You mean....the Men In Black are on this blog too?

Posted by: Sean Bannion at June 25, 2012 01:43 PM (sbV1u)

116 Don't worry, I'm a metaphor for the upcoming lawless coup...

Oh, and a metaphor for Ace's missing post.

You know I'm there ju-u-u-u-ust out of sight.

When suddenly-

BAM!

There I am.

Posted by: Levitated Mass at June 25, 2012 01:43 PM (54vf8)

117 O/T: Uh-oh. Syrians seem to have fired on a Turkish S+R plane looking for the other one that got shot down. Turks invoking Articles 4 and 5.

The excrement has now become actualized.

Posted by: Brother Cavil presents at June 25, 2012 01:44 PM (GBXon)

118 So the big FAT rock, rocks!
****
Whoopdy fuckin doo!!
***
**spit**

Posted by: Pet Rock at June 25, 2012 01:44 PM (eavT+)

119
Especially if there is hot chick mimes. Nothing like a hot chick that doesn't talk.

Who wants a chick with an invisible box?

Posted by: garrett at June 25, 2012 01:44 PM (Rbrer)

120 Ace gives me a hat tip, then it disappears.

Posted by: nickless at June 25, 2012 01:45 PM (MMC8r)

121 There was no freakout post... You saw nothing...
Look into this little flashy thingy here.

Posted by: J at June 25, 2012 01:42 PM (YXmuI)

The swamp gas reflected the light from Venus off of the weather balloon, causing the optical illusion.

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 25, 2012 01:45 PM (BAS5M)

122
I hope it wasn't anything I said.

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:45 PM (9Q7Nu)

123 Get the right crew underneath that thing and you could film a porno that would be the talk of the art/coffee-house crew for the next 25 years.

Posted by: Randy Rager at June 25, 2012 01:45 PM (GeYww)

124 88
In ten years it will be tagged with spray paint and hobos will be living under it

Posted by: Thunderb at June 25, 2012 01:36 PM (Dnbau)

More like ten months.

Posted by: baldilocks at June 25, 2012 01:45 PM (6kWFm)

125
The rock inspires me in many ways, one is to go to the internet for sage quotes from mighty thinkers:
"A fool and his money are soon parted" - Old english idiom.
"There's a sucker born every minute.� � P.T. Barnum
�Nobody ever lost a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public.�
� P.T. Barnum

Posted by: Max Entropy at June 25, 2012 01:45 PM (0Ltx4)

126 the "artist" thought about this for 40 yrs? wow...he should have actually found a way to at least have the illusion of levitation.....

Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at June 25, 2012 01:46 PM (Ho2rs)

127
Posted by: nickless at June 25, 2012 01:45 PM (MMC8r)

What did you want, a' Long Distance Dedication' of a Hall and Oates song?

Posted by: casey kasem at June 25, 2012 01:46 PM (Rbrer)

128 120 Ace gives me a hat tip, then it disappears.
Posted by: nickless at June 25, 2012 01:45 PM (MMC8r)

Which movie?

For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.

Posted by: The Huggable Robot Devil at June 25, 2012 01:46 PM (136wp)

129 It looks like a Wile E. Coyote trap set for the Roadrunner.

Brought to you by Acme.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at June 25, 2012 01:47 PM (Gye7Z)

130 Come see me next Tuesday-

Rockin' out on the Rock while smoking rock.

Rock!

Posted by: The Rock at June 25, 2012 01:47 PM (54vf8)

131 Coming soon: Chevy truck ad and Bon Seger

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 25, 2012 01:47 PM (BAS5M)

132 119
Especially if there is hot chick mimes. Nothing like a hot chick that doesn't talk.

Who wants a chick with an invisible box?
Posted by: garrett at June 25, 2012 01:44 PM (Rbrer)

In an invisable box, not have an invisable box. Besides you can't see the box anyway until your in it. Then it's too late.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, Team Dagny at June 25, 2012 01:47 PM (9TTOe)

133 Posted by: Max Entropy at June 25, 2012 01:45 PM (0Ltx4)

IIRC, admission is free for those living in the path it took.CAC?

Posted by: baldilocks at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (6kWFm)

134 I broke the blog again. Sorry...

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (d0Tfm)

135 After the AZ ruling from the SCOTUS this morning I feel like I swallowed that rock and am dreading when it has to pass through my colon.

Posted by: mpfs at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (iYbLN)

136
AC/DC's

For Those About To Rock...

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (9Q7Nu)

137 That may or may not be art and is certainly a rock, but this is, imo, more impressive although it has not moved appreciably in several million years.

http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~maher/air/113-20v.jpg

Posted by: huerfano at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (bAGA/)

138 Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right: Suck in an art thread with you.

Posted by: RoyalOil at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (kSaUf)

139 @128 Patton

Posted by: CanaDave at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (lJSgG)

140 rockin' robin

Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (Ho2rs)

141 Stupid fat fingers.BOB Seger

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (BAS5M)

142
We Will We Will...

Rock You

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (9Q7Nu)

143 37Bitch PleasePosted by: The Appalachians at June 25, 2012 01:24 PM (C2Y4l) Bitch Please...

Posted by: El Capitan at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (0Ltx4)

144 : Uh-oh. Syrians seem to have fired on a Turkish S+R plane looking for the other one that got shot down. Turks invoking Articles 4 and 5.

Yaaaaaaaay. I'm so happy I'm living in interesting times! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go curl up under my desk in a fetal position. Oh. Wait. There are yet more FUCKING JUMPING SPIDERS down there.

Can't sleep. Jumping spiders will eat me. Even the ones with their mouths glued shut and seriously seriously what exactly do you have to do to your advisor to be assigned that part of the research project. "Oh, hey, Juan Carlos, I just want you to know that my completely co-equal female partner and I have a open, adult relationship and it's just fine that I found you dorking her in the squeakhole in our bed the other day. Now here. Go glue those spiders mouths shut."

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD 2012 at June 25, 2012 01:48 PM (VtjlW)

145
Def Leppard's

Rock of Ages

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:49 PM (9Q7Nu)

146 Ode to a Missing Post:

I come to comment
Liberal freak-outs please me
But then it departs

Posted by: Sean Bannion at June 25, 2012 01:49 PM (sbV1u)

147
Twisted Sister's I Wanna Rock!

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:49 PM (9Q7Nu)

148 124 More like ten months.

---------

If that long.

Posted by: #Occupy Shady Spots, Like Those Under the Rock at June 25, 2012 01:50 PM (NmR1a)

149 CAC - therock being extracted, hauled, manipulated and anchored on two provocatively small side decks is NOT a testament as to man's insignificance as you conclude.
How could it be? The rock was completely manipulated from nature by man and purposefully perched in a way as to thumb our noses at nature by securing it on what we reflexively view as inadequate.
In short... this rock was had by man and your musings on a greater purpose of it in so much as aligning man's insignificance vis a vis nature vis a vis this rock... is to say the least ironic.

Posted by: Journolist at June 25, 2012 01:50 PM (QWOh7)

150 And a rock feels no pain, and an Island never cries.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, Team Dagny at June 25, 2012 01:50 PM (9TTOe)

151 Spinal Tap
The Majesty of Rock

Posted by: mediumheadboy at June 25, 2012 01:50 PM (x2CNJ)

152
If I say JIMMY DEAN, what do you say?

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:51 PM (9Q7Nu)

153 All that hobo urine will trickle downhill and collect under the rock.

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 25, 2012 01:51 PM (BAS5M)

154 152
If I say JIMMY DEAN, what do you say?
Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:51 PM (9Q7Nu)

Pure Pork Sausage

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, Team Dagny at June 25, 2012 01:51 PM (9TTOe)

155 So that's what a Pet Rock looks like when it's full grown.

Posted by: GnuBreed at June 25, 2012 01:52 PM (ccXZP)

156
Sometimes these projects that sound stupid and pointless, are actually cool when you see them in person. Cristo's "Gates" in Central Park is one example: just some lengths of fabric, stretched like banners across the walkways in the park, but they got you to see the place in an entirely different way.

The Irish have a term for this sort of thing: a "folly". You see them in Ireland: a tower, say, or some pseudo-Gothic ruins, that somebody built just because he damned well felt like it. The rock looks like it's a magnificent folly - and kudos to the artist for making it happen.

Posted by: Brown Line at June 25, 2012 01:52 PM (6hIqz)

157 A post disappears
The Atlantic sucks much cock
As does Obama

Posted by: mediumheadboy at June 25, 2012 01:52 PM (x2CNJ)

158 As I said in yesterday's rock thread...

It restates the negativeness of the universe. The hideous lonely
emptiness of existence. Nothingness. The predicament of Man forced to
live in a barren, Godless eternity like a tiny flame flickering in an
immense void with nothing but waste, horror and degradation, forming a
useless bleak straitjacket in a black absurd cosmos.

Or maybe it's something I ate.

Posted by: mpfs at June 25, 2012 01:52 PM (iYbLN)

159
Hey Kid
Rock 'n roll...

??

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:52 PM (9Q7Nu)

160
You call this a review CAC? There's nowhere near 150,000 words.

Posted by: garrett at June 25, 2012 01:52 PM (Rbrer)

161 Issa setting contempt vote for WED. They better have the votes

Posted by: Thunderb at June 25, 2012 01:52 PM (Dnbau)

162
Now, I'm a rock!

Posted by: Ayers Rock at June 25, 2012 01:53 PM (44/AS)

163 Very good CAC. Call enough of this garbage "art" and soon the proletariat will be depressed into worldwide Marxist revolution.

Posted by: COMINTERN at June 25, 2012 01:53 PM (tqwMN)

164 The Big Fucking Supports kill the illusion of a precariously perched Big Fucking Rock. Big Fucking Meh.

But a nice review.

Posted by: Dang at June 25, 2012 01:53 PM (Ky1+e)

165 It's a Ball of Confusion.

Posted by: The Temptations at June 25, 2012 01:53 PM (vhwRj)

166 Batholith envy.

Posted by: 13times at June 25, 2012 01:53 PM (h6XiD)

167
As I said in yesterday's rock thread...

Give Us This Day, Our Daily Rock...

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:53 PM (9Q7Nu)

168 there is a secret inside that rock.....

Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at June 25, 2012 01:53 PM (Ho2rs)

169 Rock and Roll Never Fealt So Good

Posted by: GWAR at June 25, 2012 01:54 PM (Rbrer)

170 I'd be much happier if that rock got to LA moving at about 200km/sec.

Posted by: model_1066 at June 25, 2012 01:54 PM (YbQJm)

171 All I can think of when I look up and see this ginormous rock is the IRS.

Posted by: mpfs at June 25, 2012 01:54 PM (iYbLN)

172 159
Hey Kid
Rock 'n roll...

??
Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:52 PM (9Q7Nu)

ROCK ON

Posted by: The Huggable Robot Devil at June 25, 2012 01:54 PM (136wp)

173
That Rock would be 50% more awesome if it had a giant sword stuck in it.

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:54 PM (9Q7Nu)

174 168 there is a secret inside that rock.....
Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at June 25, 2012 01:53 PM (Ho2rs)

Moved the stone and looked beneath it, Peace on earth, was all it said.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, Team Dagny at June 25, 2012 01:55 PM (9TTOe)

175 161 Issa setting contempt vote for WED. They better have the votes
Posted by: Thunderb at June 25, 2012 01:52 PM (Dnbau)

Split - party lines - passes

Posted by: The Huggable Robot Devil at June 25, 2012 01:55 PM (136wp)

176
Issa setting contempt vote for WED. They better have the votes

Fuck the votes...they better have his hot aide in a leg chair!

Posted by: garrett at June 25, 2012 01:55 PM (Rbrer)

177 Vanishing post has reappeared. For now.

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 25, 2012 01:55 PM (BAS5M)

178 Ace post has returned.

The man is a rock!

Posted by: soothsayer at June 25, 2012 01:55 PM (9Q7Nu)

179 Big ass rock above
Big ass earthquake? No, not now!
Dead ass marks below

Posted by: mediumheadboy at June 25, 2012 01:56 PM (x2CNJ)

180 Has it been "tagged" yet? Isn't that supposed to be art too? While not a vandal myself, I'm seeing a "canvas".

Posted by: ktnxbai *cough* lace wigs and rolex replicas at June 25, 2012 01:56 PM (bitIK)

181
The sheer cromulence of the rock is impressive and thought-provoking.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at June 25, 2012 01:57 PM (u29Gj)

182 Great parody. Laughing all the way to the beach.

Posted by: Cricket at June 25, 2012 01:57 PM (DrC22)

183 Looks like a composite rock.

Posted by: sTevo at June 25, 2012 01:57 PM (uIz80)

184 back when i was young and had a future, Hancock Park was a great big open green space, with a couple of tar pits.

then they built LACMA, and then another building, then some more parking, etc, etc, until now, with the BFR installation, there's pretty much SFA left in the way of green space.

this is NOT an improvement: tear it all down and bring back nature.

Posted by: redc1c4 at June 25, 2012 01:58 PM (8MasJ)

185 The idea of involuntary hesitation to walk under it is cool. Kinda like the glass floor in the CN Tower. However, is that art? No, it's a cool novelty exhibit.

Posted by: grognard, team dagny at June 25, 2012 01:58 PM (NS2Mo)

186 'Levitated Mass', ain't.

Posted by: catmman at June 25, 2012 01:59 PM (C8XlI)

187 Thats rocks ...

Posted by: Mr T Honey Badger, drinker of Mead, eater of pistachios at June 25, 2012 02:00 PM (GvYeG)

188 and an Island never cries.
Posted by: Oldsailors Poet, Team Dagny at June 25, 2012 01:50 PM (9TTOe)

But it will tip over if you station too many Marines on it.

Posted by: somebody else, not me at June 25, 2012 02:00 PM (nZvGM)

189 The grade breaks on the slope represent the amassing of knowledge by man, or ADA requirements, not sure which.

Posted by: nip at June 25, 2012 02:00 PM (ivAM4)

190 If you like your stones...

Posted by: Moron Pet Rock at June 25, 2012 02:00 PM (eavT+)

191 188 especially on one end ...

Posted by: Mr T Honey Badger, drinker of Mead, eater of pistachios at June 25, 2012 02:02 PM (GvYeG)

192 I wonder why no one in Renaissance Firenze never thoughtofthis........

I think Michaelangelo came pretty close. I direct your attention to the gallery leading to The David at the Acadamy in Florence. The sculptures there are a series of struggling figures trying to free themselves from their marble prisons. They are almost pure forms. Michaelangelo left the conclusion of those struggles up to the viewer. He pointed to a statuary fragment - Torso of Atlas I believe - as his greatest inspiration.

I think great art has the ability to appeal universally. From CAC's description, Levitating Mass just may fit the bill. The art that irks me is the type that has to be explained as if it were some kind of inside joke. When art is being produced for the approval of other artists, it usually fails.

I would like to see Levitating Mass based upon this post.

Posted by: ObjectionSustained at June 25, 2012 02:02 PM (X87hd)

193 So it took this guy 40 years for this. I wonder how much of it was spent dealing with the city, county, and state assessing environmental impact studies and various other governmental regulations.

Posted by: Ghost of Lee Atwater at June 25, 2012 02:03 PM (JxMoP)

194 It would have been better in pistachio green ...

Posted by: Mr T Honey Badger, drinker of Mead, eater of pistachios at June 25, 2012 02:04 PM (GvYeG)

195 Short version -- Utopia is just a couple of 5-4 rulings away.

Posted by: GnuBreed at June 25, 2012 02:04 PM (ccXZP)

196 Crap, wrong thread.

Posted by: GnuBreed at June 25, 2012 02:05 PM (ccXZP)

197 Does mead drip off when you walk under it ?

Posted by: Mr T Honey Badger, drinker of Mead, eater of pistachios at June 25, 2012 02:06 PM (GvYeG)

198 As I'm staring at the spot where Ace's post was, contemplating the why, I get distracted with the usual troubles in my mind. Trannies..

More Trannies with my Thai Tranny wedding coming up.

Bigger problems start racing through my mind- Hoboes- dry rub or sauce? The stress of runnig out of my last few pudding cups has weighed on me.

Getting annoyed I'm being mentally derailed by that stupid blank post space.

That's it. Man has always been in awe of Ewoks and their whimsical natures.

They seem so small compared to the bigness of everything around them but, yeah, they'll fuck you over. Just because.

We can be overwhelmed by the massiveness of the absence of withdraw posts.

The blankness, the withdraw post, is not there to challenge you. It's not there at all.

That blank, dangling before you, is a reminder of the countless aspects of our lives we seem to have little control over.

Like drunkenness and masturbation.

Gaze upon the post's absence and contemplate the possibility that an Ewok accidentally pressed a computer key while in the throes of passion with your garbage and busty lesbian porn.

Posted by: Le Critic du Arte at June 25, 2012 02:06 PM (54vf8)

199 The sheer cromulence of the rock is impressive and thought-provoking.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff

I've heard that about *ahem* you EoJ.

Posted by: mpfs at June 25, 2012 02:06 PM (iYbLN)

200 my god, your over analylitical, self obsorbed, self reflecting, look at me post, really sucked.

Posted by: anon at June 25, 2012 02:07 PM (j/wD+)

201 Man is but a reed, the most
feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed. The entire
universe need not arm itself to crush him. A vapor, a drop of water
suffices to kill him. But, if the universe were to crush him, man
would still be more noble than that which killed him, because he knows
that he dies and the advantage which the universe has over him, the
universe knows nothing of this.

All our dignity then, consists in thought. By it we must elevate ourselves, and not by space and time which we cannot fill. Let us endeavor then, to think well; this is the principle of morality. -- Blaise Pascal Pensees 347

Posted by: Pascal at June 25, 2012 02:09 PM (OULR2)

202 LevitatED Mass. Sorry. But while I am at it ...

I gotchyer levitated mass right heyah...

Posted by: ObjectionSustained at June 25, 2012 02:11 PM (X87hd)

203 CAC - reread your piece.
I like it.
You are very wise.
Very crafty your prose.
I read it too fast the first time.

Posted by: Journolist at June 25, 2012 02:11 PM (QWOh7)

204 What was the carbon footprint of this project? Not that I give a shit but I wonder how many a-holes who usually complain about such things were there ooohing and awwwing over this big rock mounted between two walls that obviously got there using fossil-fueled machines.

Posted by: mikey at June 25, 2012 02:24 PM (GSeVd)

205 It's actually a complex SMOD repellant. I mean, really, what are the odds of two huge, ugly rocks falling on LA? By pre-dropping one, they guarantee another won't.

Posted by: Tonic Dog at June 25, 2012 02:25 PM (X/+QT)

206 170 I'd be much happier if that rock got to LA moving at about 200km/sec.
Posted by: model_1066 at June 25, 2012 01:54 PM (YbQJm)

meant to add...from space. SMODish

Posted by: model_1066 at June 25, 2012 02:36 PM (YbQJm)

207 There's a sucker born every minute

Posted by: pt barnum at June 25, 2012 02:44 PM (3m9Uc)

208 "After posting yesterday,...........Final verdict: definitely worth the trip.........Beer helps too". Thanks for that, I can now cross off the whole of CA as a place to visit. I'm starting a pool on when the first graffiti will be sprayed on this big Fuc*en rock. I hope it will have a poignant message, like Fuc* you.

Posted by: Buffalobob at June 25, 2012 02:45 PM (676kt)

209
I spent a portion hiking through the waterfall and then under the Tonto Natural Bridge. Makes this thing look like a pitiful, old, sickly dancing bear on a leash next to an honest to God wild Alaskan Grizzly. After that, we drove up along the Mongollon Rim, had another hike and some lunch while looking out...I don't know...50, 100 miles? Had a nice sandwich up on a real rock. A rock where one little slip would mean death, as the little metal memorial badge affixed near the cliff edge made one well aware.
L.A..........

Posted by: MostlyRight at June 25, 2012 02:49 PM (ZG8Ti)

210 Seriously, what happens to this thing in an earthquake?

Posted by: @ParisParamus at June 25, 2012 02:59 PM (GFX++)

211 If that's art, I have about 7 acres of art here in Texas on my own place. Wow...my property value just went up! Good news!

Posted by: Pat at June 25, 2012 03:14 PM (nyOUc)

212 Millenia from now, "Scientists" will use this as "proof" the Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials.

Posted by: franksalterego at June 25, 2012 03:43 PM (9XykO)

213 Why didn't the artist just make the trench a couple of feet narrower rather than add the buttresses?

Posted by: toby928� at June 25, 2012 04:24 PM (QupBk)

214 It's better art than Yoko Ono's three piles of dirt, at any rate.

Posted by: Tim the Enchanter at June 25, 2012 04:31 PM (izA2D)

215 CAC's Excellent Adventure

It's a fucking rock. Sitting on two concrete walls. It's a fucking rock.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and all that at June 25, 2012 04:36 PM (CP+yl)

216 "Get off my lawn- and take your big rock with you!"

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at June 25, 2012 04:50 PM (ND7TC)

217 If they put it back where they found it, will that be Art squared? Or will it morph back into non-Art along the way?

Posted by: Jerome at June 25, 2012 05:42 PM (eQa5p)

218 It's creator called it Art. People were prepared to spend their OWN money on this Art. It is Art.

Posted by: rabidfox at June 25, 2012 06:34 PM (V2HyS)

219 I seen a rock once.

Posted by: TrueNorthist at June 25, 2012 06:55 PM (3Aixx)

220 I'm surprised it's not covered in graffiti already.
Soon.

Posted by: sablegsd at June 25, 2012 08:10 PM (AKS75)

221 "You didn't read a fucking word that was written, did you?"

Yeah, I read it all. Its a rock. Its not art. It doesn't become art because someone waxes all sophomore in college about it.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 25, 2012 08:43 PM (r4wIV)

222 First graffiti: It's A Rock

Posted by: Sei Toldjah at June 26, 2012 01:44 PM (QbjWk)

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