Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to escape to Nevada to do some research on some land art projects. One of the projects that I visited was Michael Heizer’s Double Negative from 1969-1970. I am always amazed everytime I make the drive to go and see the site. The site is always larger an the erosion is more substantial. It is hard to believe that someone that was 24 years old conceived of a work as a complex as this.
I had two thoughts on visting the piece. First, that nature has continued Heizer’s original excavation of the slots. Now the slots are being re-excavated by the wind and rain of the desert. It makes the entire project a window in the natural processes of nature.
Second, even though the work is excavation, a negative in the solid mass of the mesa, surprisingly the work is still experienced like an obect. The experience of the work is the experience of the excavation. Of course, this works right in with the Heizer’s title “Double Negative” meaning two negative make a positive. The space of the excavations is able to merge with the space of the valley to create an experience that is unlike any other in art.
