karenvDESMA9: Event 2: Metropolis II at LACMA

Yesterday, I tried my hand at becoming culturally and artistically educated by visiting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). This widely-acclaimed museum is famous for its vast art collection, the most well-known of which include the "Urban Light" installation (the forest of lamp posts), "Penetrable in Neon Lime" by Jesus Rafael Soto (the plastic yellow strands noodles), and the steel gargantua structures (the giant folding walls of iron) by Richard Serra.

Me towards the entrance of the LACMA campus.

Although I did explore all areas and exhibits of the LACMA campus, what I came to see was the "Metropolis II" exhibit by Chris Burden, the infamous performance artist behind "Shoot" and "Trans-fixed" and the creator of the "Urban Light" installation itself.

"Metropolis II" by Chris Burden.

Inspired by his successful creation of the smaller "Metropolis I" in 2004, Burden and his engineer Zak Cook spent four years building the 10 foot tall, 30 feet wide kinetic sculpture, which finally debuted in 2011. The structure contains 18 roadways as well as 1,100 toy cars, each custom-built in China so that their axles do not wear out while going at a scale speed of 230 miles per hour (unlike Hotwheels toy cars, whose axles are not as strong and were used in the first Metropolis sculpture).

To control the speed of the cars, Burden and Cook employed certain structural features and physics principles such as raised lane dividers on curves to cause friction against the cars' wheel rims to act as a braking mechanism. They also utilized an electronically-powered conveyor belt that used magnets to propel cars up the incline to the top of the structure, built in a similar fashion to roller coaster inclines. Below is a short film about "Metropolis II" to show the awe and energy of the massive structure and zooming cars within it.

"Metropolis II" by Chris Burden, the movie.

The system does not have its cars and toy trains running all of the time, but it is turned on four times a day every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for museum visitors to observe. Although I was not able to see it being run during my visit to the exhibit, I was still able to appreciate the different building materials used to create it (such as childhood favorites like legos, lincoln logs, and model train tracks), the complex system of roadways incorporated into the structure, the detail put into each miniature building, and the overall likeness of a bustling, high-energy 21st century city that Burden tried to emulate through "Metropolis II".

View of the structure from above on a viewing balcony.

A miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower, emphasizing the urban aspect of "Metropolis II".

A miniature mosque, church, and residential area.

A tower resembling business skyscrapers found in major urban centers.

A view from the bottom.

Even the bottom/floor of the structure is lined with steel bars for structural integrity.

A miniature wall of Medieval-esque stone and stained glass, exemplifying the attention to detail put into "Metropolis II".

Me with the installation.

What intrigued me the most about this piece, however, was how it reflected Burden's vision for the urban future. He believes that one day, we will be living in a city that resembles "Metropolis II", in the sense that cars will be controlled in such a way that there will never be traffic jams, cars will travel much faster, and passengers will not have to act as drivers due to future automated driving technologies. Burden also predicts that our current ability to drive wherever and whenever we want to go will no longer be possible in the future if the driving system does truly become automated enough to enable driver-less cars and to prevent traffic gridlocks. (This prediction of the future of our cars and traffic system is also echoed by futurist Michio Kaku in the once-popular Discovery Channel mini-series "2057".)

The second episode of "2057", "The City", which predicts how automobile traffic will be controlled in the future.

Yet, at the same time, "Metropolis II" also reminds of how major cities like Los Angeles are today. The miniature skyscrapers, residential districts, busy cars, maze of roadways, and even places of religious worship are all reminiscent of our bustling modern urban centers, seemingly always in motion, never once pausing in order to carry on with the energy and life of the city. Even Burden says that "Metropolis II" holds a likeness to Los Angeles; he estimates that the equivalent of about 100,000 cars run through the entire system, similar to the automobile activity of the City of Angels.

As I pondered about its likeness to current cities and how it predicts traffic systems in future ones, I was able to see how this truly was a work of art in the sense that it evoked an emotional sense of awe and wonder and provoked much thought in me. I also saw how Burden was able to have this effect on me through his art by implementing all of the aforementioned materials, kinetic components, and scientific principles to convey his vision of the future and reflection of the present. In the end, as I walked away from the exhibit and the museum, I realized that the combination of these conceptual and structural elements truly did make "Metropolis II" a masterpiece that exemplified the intersection of art and science, making this a worthy exhibit for anyone from either and any discipline to see.