Artist: Michael Heizer 

Title: 45°, 90°, 180° 

Media: Granite monoliths and concrete

Location: Engineering Quadrangle

In honor of George R. Brown ‘20

Description: These three massive granite slabs are displayed in Rice’s Engineering Quadrangle and refer to the three basic degree measurements used in engineering projects.  Each monolith rests at a corresponding angle, visually and materially alluding to the central building blocks of engineering knowledge and practice learned at the university.

Artist Background: California native Michael Heizer has been a major figure in the American land art movement for decades.  His work brings art out of the gallery space and utilizes the planet itself as a canvas.  His projects such as Double Negative and City blur the line between natural objects and sculpture, and they invite the viewer to relate the earth to their conception of art.  He has exhibited with the Whitney Museum and Biennale, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Ace Gallery (Los Angeles and New York) among others.  In addition to these examples at Rice, other sculptures in Houston include Charmstone and Isolated Mass/Circumflex (#2) on view at the Menil Collection.  

Education: San Francisco Art Institute

http://doublenegative.tarasen.net/