P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 6
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METROPOLIS II at LACMA
by Tom Wilkins, Awards Committee Chair
Chris Burden's Metropolis II is an intense kinetic sculpture, modeled after a fast-paced, frenetic modern city. Steel
beams form an eclectic grid interwoven with an elaborate system of eighteen roadways, including one six-lane
freeway and HO scale train tracks. Miniature cars speed through the city at 240 scale miles per hour; every hour,
the equivalent of approximately 100,000 cars circulate through the dense network of buildings. According to
Burden, "The noise, the continuous flow of the trains and the speeding toy cars produce in the viewer the stress of
living in a dynamic, active and bustling 21st century city."
See Metropolis II in action (no reservation required) in the Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA:
Fridays
11:30 AM–12:30 PM; 1:30–2:30 PM; 3:30–4:30 PM; 5:30–6:30 PM
Saturdays & Sundays
10:30–11:30 AM; 12:30–1:30 PM; 2:30–3:30 PM; 4:30–5:30 PM
Image: © Chris Burden. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photography by
E. Koyama. Courtesy of the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Foundation
