Earth Art Michael Heizer the city

Earth Art was born in the 1960s, its birth was inseparable from the special social environment of
the West. The economic development, political turmoil, and the rise of the anti-mainstream
cultural revolution, civil rights movement, feminism movement and other ideological trend,
objectively provide a fertile ground for the birth and future development of Earth Art. Earth
artists criticize industrial civilization and high-standard urban posture, so they are eager to get rid
of the art system and urban art pollution, therefore, the place of creation is usually chosen in the
deserts, river valleys, Gobi and other uninhabited remote places. The traffic barriers caused by
economy at that time just happen to avoid the prying eyes of them. This creation is purely a
desire for achieve inner satisfaction. It’s not only promotes the transfer of medium and the
subversive breakthroughs about traditional viewing modes, but also create a new art form.

It was not until 1968 that the first joint exhibition Earth Woreks made the Earth Art known to
people, and the art of the earth also entered the golden age. Michael Heyzer is one of the
founders of Earth Workeks and introduces the sculptural language to the reshaping of rock, land
and desert landscapes. The City, as his representative work, is called by the New York Times as
"probably the most ambitious sculpture in history, a fearless, incredible American dream".

The City was created in 1972, it is a large architectural sculpture group that lasted for 47 years
and will be exhibited in 2020. The work is located deep in the deserts of Nevada, USA, and is
inspired by the pre-Columbian American religious city, which has an inseparable relationship with
his father, a famous archaeologist who has taken him to archaeological research since he was a
child. Heizer mixed stones, sand and cement at the site to make a 1.5-mile-long gigantic
architectural complex with these worthless raw material. Heizer thinks this a strategic option, and
he is worried about the inevitable social turmoil would destruct the integrity of the work in the
future. The work is huge and magnificent, paying attention to structural characteristics and
infiltrating Michael Heizer's purely self-art truth. The shape is extremely simple and full of
rational glory, with a formal aesthetic and a strong visual impact. The shape of the sculpture is
mainly composed of straight lines, triangles and irregular geometric shapes. The logical
arrangement of the sculptures forms a unique solemn and mysterious feeling, full of shocking
effects.

The medium of this work is not just natural, it is himself. Living in the desert, lacking conditional
support, he suffered from serious chronic neurological and respiratory diseases. His wife, also his
assistant, who had been married for 15 years, left him, leaving only a sheepdog named "Tomato
Rose". Heizer and the sculpture became an unconstrained unit. Maybe the personal wish that
may be hidden in the city is the subject of his thoughts. He is not pinned on any history or social
conditions. He pursues spiritual excitement and suffering in essence, and abandons the state of
stability to mobilize. All resources push themselves to the brink of death. But he is not fanatical
or extremely exhilarating as a paranoid Millenarianism, rationally devoted to nearly half a century
to enjoy high-intensity mental stress and physical torture. Michael Heyzer is a contradictory
individual who seeks to refuge the ivory tower while he is obsessed with pain and danger.
But I still think that he belongs to true freedom. His escape is not a weakness. It is a direct
reflection of a deeper and difficult social life that no one has been. The art is really integrated into
his life and a tool for him to satisfy anxiety. He is not dominated by lonely Metaphysic. All
sufferings and results are self-accepting and enjoying choices, as if they are detached from the
greed of human reality, desperately giving up social existence, but at the same time having the
most naked and most insignificant ambitions, the entire sculpture group Heavy infiltration of
personal philosophical truth. The city is a spiritual source of his closed state, a source of spiritual
power to satisfy all needs.

The city became a work of both sculpture and behavior. Any work of art can be called a
manifestation of spirituality. In contemporary art, this form of expression is no longer a
manifestation of religion, but also transforms into an inner and individual spiritual feeling and a
utopian desire. For 47 years, he became an ascetic monk in the dual dimension of time and
space. He developed this spiritual feature to the extreme, splitting the world of thought and the
real world, eager to hide reality and transcend reality.

To a large extent, art is a means of escaping from reality to satisfy selfish desires, self-talking with
sculptural language, reshaping and living in a new world of spirit and reality. The city is destined
to become a milestone in architectural history and art history.

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标题：Utopian Desire - Michael Heizer’s Inner though