Out for another weekend with another group. A friend from Houston, TX flew up for the weekend and my gal joined us for a drive down to Nevada to stay at a hot springs motel and a ride to see some desert art. My girlfriend has a mid-90's van that is just big enough to fit three people and two bikes if you take off the front wheel and forks.
The desert north of Las Vegas is full of singletrack and jeep trails. Among the many mesas and buttes of the desert overlooking the Virgin River valley is a strange art project called "Double Negative" created in 1969 by Michael Heizer who is known for his large scale land-art in the American West. Basically he used an excavator to scrape away the earth until he formed these long vertical trenches. In my opinion the value of this "art" lies merely in its juxtaposition to its landscape. Much like the Guggenheim in New York City stands out as a squat, little round pound cake standing in the middle of New York's rectangular skyscrapers, "Double Negative's" visual appeal is in its contradiction to its surroundings. The pristine Virgin River valley cuts like a blue and green snake through the tan and brown rocks of Nevada's volcanic geology, and perched above this bucolic scene is the hard, angular cut of a man-made canyon like a bandsaw in the rock.
Of course, nothing lasts forever as the canyon is crumbling in on itself. There is no placard to designate the work, nor signs to point you in the right direction from the nearest town 20 miles away. Double Negative exists mostly through word of mouth and in art textbooks in institutional settings. However going out to see it for oneself, out in the desert with the cactus, rocks, and the beautiful Virgin River valley below is the charm of Double Negative and of the majority of Michael Heizer's work.
, nice pics Scottie, desert looks...........dry 
