7 Magic Mountains Photos
While driving from California to Idaho, we saw this fascinating, colorful art installation called "7 Magic Mountains" in the desert.
It consists of 7 stacks of large boulders painted in a variety of bright colors, sitting in the middle of the Nevada desert, about 10 miles from Las Vegas.
The background was perfect for this particular image, (above) as the dark clouds on the desert horizon contrasted violently with the bright, sunny colors of the art piece.
While some people would argue that this is simply 7 stacks of rocks, I saw more here.
Sure, you could look at it quite boorishly as just some painted rocks in the desert, but I was fascinated to see these boulders from a variety of different vantage points all around the installment.
It was interesting to see how that same "stack of rocks" could look so different, depending on the angle and trajectory you were viewing them from.
In some images, you see a brighter set of clouds while in others, you see the boulders at different angles.
In all cases, you are struck by how large these stacks are, especially when you see them contrasted with the tourists who thought it worthwhile to stop and see.
As someone who enjoys colorful artwork, this installation was awe-inspiring to see in person.
I enjoyed seeing the stark contrast of the "artificially colored" boulders against the "naturally colored", drab desert landscape and then against the dark, brooding thunderclouds off in the distance.
There was something very cool about it all.
As we left, we noticed a video crew doing a story on the 7 Magic Mountains.
Much more than just 7 stacks of rocks, to be sure...
In this video, the artist, Ugo Rondinone explains the background for his art:
This is another great story about the art:
Here's some "official" info about the 7 Magic Mountains:
Renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone’s colorful large-scale, public artwork Seven Magic Mountains is a two-year exhibition located in the desert outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring seven thirty to thirty-five-foot high dayglow totems comprised of painted, locally-sourced boulders.
Visible across the desert landscape along Interstate 15, Seven Magic Mountains offers a creative critique of the simulacra of destinations like Las Vegas. According to Rondinone, the location is physically and symbolically mid-way between the natural and the artificial: the natural is expressed by the mountain ranges, desert, and Jean Dry Lake backdrop, and the artificial is expressed by the highway and the constant flow of traffic between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
You did such a good job with such an interesting subject. I think you should have nevada and sculpture as two of your tags so people find this. Your photos of it are amazing and the text and extra info. You set a high bar :)
I'm so glad to find you from a fb group post today. I am really glad I joined those.
Followed, upvoted and resteemed this fascinating post.
Thanks, glad you liked it! I did change one of the tags to "sculpture", as you suggested!
Just came back and tweeted this post :)
I think you will have good results. Your work is so interesting :)
I have never heard of these rocks, My friends and I do a lot of traveling; something new for us to see!! Amazing
Thank you for sharing. A very colorful project indeed and appreciate artists who spice up our lives with artistic pieces. I am sure every driver who passed by the area got excited and appreciated the artwork.
WOW, what a great post, really interesting
Very vivid colors. Is that 'natural' out of the camera or was there some post processing? The picture with the dark storm clouds almost looks fake as the drab grey light doesn't seem like it could make the colors perk up so much.
Wow! 😍
All of the images are natural out of my iPhone 7S camera with no post processing, just cropping.
For some reason, (maybe because I was too close to the stones or maybe because the camera corrected for the background clouds?) the camera did not capture the brightness of the stones as well as it did in that storm cloud image.
I was also shooting many of these from the opposite direction of the storm clouds...
Maybe it was also the distance I was shooting from that made a difference in how the camera interpreted the brightness of the stones.
The stones are very bright, but many of these images made them look a little faded.
Anyway, I really like that storm cloud image!
Yes very vivid!
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It's totally awesome. Sucks that they are gonna take it down in 2 years.
Fantastic photos of a place I didn't know existed but now I must visit someday!
Thanks for opening my eyes!
Thanks for this fantastic article on the "7 Magic Mountains"! Last time I traveled through the United States in 1988. This article made me too curious to come again. I am from Berlin, Germany ⚡
I am a real mountain freak, those once are so funny indeed!:)