The Lightning Fields

Twenty years ago when exploring my thesis I became really interested in the power of land art. As architects we often fall into the trap of creating beautiful objects to be viewed, and this has only intensified over time. (Bilbao effect) Land art offered an alternative, one in which the work is experienced spatially (and emotionally). Due to the immense size and/or location, many land art works are hard to view at once - which means you need to take the time to fully understand them.

In 1977, Walter de Maria completed a 10 year process of designing and installing The Lightning Fields in a open field near Quemado, NM. The installation consists of 400 stainless steel poles within a 1 mile X 1 km grid. The site is located in an area of the desert that receives more lightning than the rest of the region with the goal of turning electric current into art.

The site is owned and operated by the Dia Art Foundation and in order to visit you need to make a reservation in advance. I have been trying to visit for years but kept getting shut out to overall demand. This year however, I was accepted and offered a random October Tuesday date. Victory.

When people talk about the Lightning Fields they fail to talk about the social experiment of 6 people coming together (3 couples in our case) for a night in a remote cabin with no WiFi, cell coverage, vehicle (you get dropped off), or knowledge of one another. We spent time with a couple from Florida, and another from Maine. Both had art backgrounds, as either curators or active artists, and were on their own long-term journey to witness the fields first hand.

We didn't see lightning, however the experience was still incredible beyond words.

The stainless steel rods are polished to perfection, so throughout the day you see the rods go from glowing like candles to fading away into the landscape. As you walk through the field you constantly shift between the grid aligning in rows to what appears to be random placement. The ground plane appears flat from a distance but in reality shifts over 9 feet. While the ground plane varies, the rods were placed so that the top is at the same height across the entire grid. Imagine a large sheet of glass on top of the poles; it would sit flat across the 1m x 1km installation.

We walked, we sketched, we wrote, we water colored, we played cards, we laughed, we waxed poetic, we drank bourbon, and we gazed at the stars. The power of this experience was in the complete solitude to experience it so fully. In a world where we are always connected and looking to capture the next Instagram moment, it is hard to find true quiet. Perhaps Walter foresaw this in 1977 - who knows. Photos are not allowed at the site, phones don't work, and the cabin only has enough plugs to power the space heaters. When you take away the noise you open yourself to experiencing place in so many other ways. It was a reminder that we all need to find time to do this, because when you do, you open your mind to everything around you and that is where you find your true creative self.