The Vertical Earth Kilometer

The Vertical Earth Kilometer is a permanent art installation created by Walter De Maria in Friedrichsplatz Park in front of the Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany. The Vertical Earth Kilometer is a solid brass rod, one kilometer (3,280.84 ft.) in length and 2 inches (5.1 cm) in diameter. It is inserted into the earth so that its top is flush to the ground and embedded in a two-by-two-meter red sandstone square. Installed in 1977 during documenta 6, it has been on permanent view ever since. The Vertical Earth Kilometer is maintained by the Dia Art Foundation as one of the twelve locations and sites they manage.

Design

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 Ken Jennings of Condé Nast Traveler notes that the work resembles a Kilometre zero marker seen in many European countries. 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." == History ==

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. It took 79 days to install the work, during which locals had to endure loud drilling noises. Locals were also unhappy with the total cost of the virtually invisible artwork, 750,000 Deutsche Marks (approximately US$2 million in 2016 values). 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. == References ==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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