Explore the Design of this artwork.
The Vertical Earth Kilometer is an 18-ton round solid brass rod. It is five centimeters in diameter and one kilometer long. The rod is inserted into the earth so that a five-centimeter-wide end sits flush with the surface of the earth and is embedded in the center of a two-by-two-meter square red sandstone plate. The work is installed in Kassel, Germany, in Friedrichsplatz Park in front of the Fridericianum, and has no label or plaque marking it as artwork or explaining what it is.When viewing the top of the artwork, the only part visible from above ground, Ella Morton, a reporter for Slate magazine said "it looks like a coin that’s been dropped, forgotten, and trodden on over several decades,"  and Ken Jennings of Condé Nast Traveler notes that the work resembles a Kilometre zero marker seen in many European countries.Documenta proposes many interpretations of the piece including "the hidden rod is meant to prompt us to reflect on the Earth and its place in the universe" and "a symbolic act of restoring a valuable metal to the exploited Earth." Documenta also notes that The Vertical Earth Kilometer is a piece of Minimal, Conceptual, and Land art, the three "significant artistic strategies of the period."
Documenta Minimal Kassel Conceptual Land Friedrichsplatz Park Fridericianum Kilometre zero red sandstone brass Germany Condé Nast Traveler