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Double Negative

Double Negative

Michael Heizer

Photo: Thure Johnson · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Mormon Mesa, near Overton, Nevada, USA
Client / Owner
Virginia Dwan
Year
Completed 1969
Access
Public
Typology
Cultural
Style
—

Double Negative is a land art work by Michael Heizer, made in 1969 on the eastern edge of Mormon Mesa. The mesa overlooks the Virgin Valley in rural Clark County, Nevada. Art dealer Virginia Dwan paid for the 60-acre site, and Heizer transferred the deeds to her.

The work is two long trenches facing each other across a natural canyon. Each trench is 30 feet (9 meters) wide and 50 feet (15 meters) deep. The far ends are 1,500 feet (457 meters) apart. Heizer displaced 244,000 tons of rock, mostly rhyolite and sandstone, and dumped it into the canyon between the trenches.

Dwan donated the work in 1984 to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, which owns it today. Heizer wanted nature to reclaim the land, so no conservation work is permitted. Plans for a nearby solar development were rejected in 2021. The site is reached by four-wheel drive vehicle or motorcycle.

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