The Lightning Field

Recently Magdalena and I visited The Lightning Field with our good friends and neighbors.

What is The Lightning Field ?

Here is a description from the Dia Art Foundation's web site:

The Lightning Field, by the American sculptor Walter De Maria, is a work of Land Art situated in a remote area of the high desert of western New Mexico.

It is comprised of 400 polished stainless-steel poles installed in a grid array measuring one mile by one kilometer.

The poles—two inches in diameter and averaging 20 feet, 7½ inches in height—are spaced 220 feet apart and have solid, pointed tips that define a horizontal plane.

A sculpture to be walked in as well as viewed, The Lightning Field is intended to be experienced over an extended period of time.

A full experience of The Lightning Field does not depend upon the occurrence of lightning, and visitors are encouraged to spend as much time as possible in the field, especially during sunset and sunrise.

In order to provide this opportunity, Dia offers overnight visits during the months of May through October.

Commissioned and maintained by Dia Art Foundation, The Lightning Field exemplifies Dia’s commitment to supporting art projects whose nature and scale exceed the limits normally available within the traditional museum or gallery.

It was very-much worth the trip.

Yet, thinking of it as an “art trip” doesn’t fully describe the experience. The meet-up in remote Quemado, NM. The dirt-road ride out to the site in the care-taker’s truck. The overnight in a spare wooden cabin out of view from the rest of the world. The sunset, stars and sunrise.

De Maria’s big grid of reflective poles is the reason to go out, but it is the entire journey that comes back and stays with us.

Learn more, here:

https://www.diaart.org/visit/visit-our-locations-sites/walter-de-maria-the-lightning-field