The Kid Should See This

Metropolis II at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

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Metropolis II, a kinetic sculpture created by Chris Burden, is featured at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Steel beams form an eclectic grid interwoven with an elaborate system of 18 roadways, including one 6 lane freeway, and HO scale train tracks… According to Burden, “The noise, the continuous flow of the trains, and the speeding toy cars, produces in the viewer the stress of living in a dynamic, active and bustling 21stΒ Century city.

metropolis II

LACMA’s blog gives some detail:

β€’ The cars are attached by a small magnet to the conveyor belt that brings them to the crest.
β€’ The only motorization of the cars is the conveyor belt to the top.
β€’ Once the cars cross over the crest and head downward, their entire movement is by gravity.
β€’ They travel at a scale speed of 240 mph, plus or minus.
β€’ The tracks they take are Teflon coated to reduce friction.
β€’ The tracks are beveled at 7 degrees to give added torque for speed when they come through corners and curves.
β€’ The trains are out of the box electric train sets that run on electricity.

metropolis II
metropolis II

Taken at Burden’s studio,Β this Lightsmith Studios videoΒ is a bit shorter and perhaps provides a better understanding of the scale and constant sound that’s produced by the equivalent ofΒ 100,000 toy carsΒ per hour circulating through roadways.


Metropolis II is an ongoing installation at LACMA with showtimes every afternoon except Wednesday.Β 

Next, watch Beam Drop Inhotim, 2008, Brazil.

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