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Michael Heizer’s 340-ton stone reached the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) on March 10, 2012, after an approximately 105-mile nighttime journey from a Riverside County quarry. It is now the centerpiece of Levitated Mass, a work that includes not just the boulder but a long concrete slot visitors walk through beneath it.
What is the 340-ton boulder at LACMA?
It is the central element of Levitated Mass, a site-specific work by artist Michael Heizer. LACMA records the work’s materials as diorite granite and concrete and its weight as 340 tons. The museum describes the boulder itself as granite. LACMA Collections
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThe stone measures 21½ feet high and 21½ feet wide, according to LACMA. It rests above a concrete passage: visitors enter a 456-foot-long slot, descend to a depth of 15 feet at its lowest point, pass beneath the megalith, and climb back up. The work is therefore an encounter with the rock, the engineered passage and the surrounding negative space—not simply a boulder displayed on a plinth. LACMA’s artwork page
How did the rock get to the museum?
The journey began at Pyrite-Hubbs Quarry in Riverside County, where the megalith came off the quarry wall during a detonation in 2007. Heizer and then-LACMA director Michael Govan developed the idea of realizing the artist’s earlier concept at the museum. The transporter began its trip on February 28, 2012, and arrived at LACMA on March 10. LACMA Collections
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LACMA describes the route as approximately 105 miles through four counties and 22 cities, over roughly 11 nights. The transporter moved only at night. Route planners avoided overpasses and streets or bridges considered too weak for the load; this was a specially planned route, not a direct freeway haul. LACMA’s collection record gives the transporter’s speed as approximately 7 miles per hour, while a contemporaneous museum blog described the planned pace as about 8 mph. Both are approximate figures from LACMA sources, not a single settled measurement. LACMA’s artwork page · LACMA Collections · LACMA Unframed, “Levitated Mass: The Journey Begins”
Why did the work take decades to realize?
Heizer conceived Levitated Mass in 1969. His first attempt used a 120-ton stone and a slot depression in a dry lakebed in northern Nevada. The rock proved too heavy to load, broke one of the cranes, and the effort was abandoned. The version installed at LACMA uses a 340-ton megalith from Riverside County, carried to a museum campus and incorporated into a permanent concrete passage. These were distinct efforts, not interchangeable versions of the same installation. LACMA’s artwork page
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The museum announced the public opening for June 24, 2012. Its collection record distinguishes the work’s conception in 1969 from its realization in 2012. LACMA’s May 22, 2012 opening announcement · LACMA Collections
What does the slot add to the sculpture?
LACMA interprets the work through megalithic stone structures, abstract geometry, engineering, and Heizer’s treatment of volume and negative space as physical, measurable forms. The slot makes that space something a visitor can move through: the massive stone seems suspended above a cut in the ground, while the descent and climb make scale bodily rather than merely visual. This is the museum’s interpretation of the work, rather than a single definitive meaning.
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LACMA connects Levitated Mass with Heizer’s Double Negative (1969) and North, East, South, West (1967/2002), noting the importance of monumental negative form to the experience of those works. LACMA’s artwork page · LACMA Collections
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where is it now?
Levitated Mass is installed on the LACMA campus in Los Angeles. LACMA’s historical announcement records its opening in 2012; current visitor hours, ticket requirements and access arrangements should be checked through the museum’s current visitor information before planning a visit. LACMA’s opening announcement
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