Open space and vast amounts of desert nature is what you see when you step outside the glitzy confines of Las Vegas and into Jean Dry Lake. The landscape is quite barren and stark, bisected by I-15. However, its history is quite the opposite. Jean Dry Lake was “created” in the late-’60’s during the Land Art movement- a time when installation artists decided to do something completely opposite to the street art craze that was infiltrating urban areas like NYC.
Land Art is now in revival mode, and Jean Dy Lake is its home! Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone chose this area to put up his impressive “Seven Magic Mountains”. Here, 7 towering totems of boulders sit and stand guard over the quiet desert landscape. Each totem is composed of differing numbers of individual boulders, each weighing 40,000 pounds and each a different bright, fluorescent color. In total, this installation is immense as each “pole” stands between 25-35 feet tall.
Seven Magic Mountains will be standing poised through May of 2018. If you are in the area, take some time to visit Jean Dry Lake – because only then can you truly understand the installation’s name… the contrast between the natural landscape and the colorful totems is magical!
Variances in size and color make these seven poles a perfect collection when grouped together!
Image courtesy of: Adri’s World
Set against this cactus “tree”, the neon color of the boulders is amazingly striking!
Image courtesy of: Adri’s World
Up close, you can get a real feeling of how substantial each 40,000 boulder really is!
Image courtesy of: Adri’s World