Focus on this artwork and discuss the History.
Created in 1977 for documenta 6: “Art in the media – media in art”, the Dia Art Foundation funded the barely visible but monumental sculpture. A Texas oil company was hired by De Maria, under the direction and supervision of the Kassel-based engineering firm of Hans Jurgen Pickel, to install the artwork. A narrow, one-kilometer-deep shaft was bored, cutting through six geological layers. The brass rod was lowered into the bore hole in segments, which were screwed together as they went, to form the full one-kilometer rod. It took 79 days to install the work, during which locals had to endure loud drilling noise. Locals were also unhappy with the total cost of the virtually invisible artwork, 750,000 Deutsche Marks (approximately US$2 million in 2016 values).The Vertical Earth Kilometer has been on permanent public display since it was installed in 1977, and is maintained by the Dia Art Foundation as one of the eleven locations and sites they manage.In 1979, De Maria created The Broken Kilometer as a companion piece to The Vertical Earth Kilometer. It is in the SoHo neighborhood in New York City and uses a brass rod of the same weight, length, and diameter as this work.
New York City The Broken Kilometer Kassel geological layers documenta 6 eleven locations and sites Dia Art Foundation brass documenta SoHo