
Study for Actual Size (Munich Depression)
<p>In 1969, at the invitation of Munich gallery owner Heiner Friedrich, sculptor Michael Heizer drove a backhoe to dig a pit more than 30 meters in diameter: geometry writ large on the landscape. As an extension of the work, called <em>Munich Depression,</em> Heizer took 360-degree photographs of the 7,000-square-foot pit and used them to prepare a gigantic slide piece, called <em>Actual Size</em>—a 1:1 virtual recreation of <em>Munich Depression</em> that brought his outdoor intervention into an exhibition space. “I think certain photographs offer a precise way of seeing works,” he said as he was preparing this photo work. “You can take a photograph into a clean white room, with no sound, no noise. You can . . . possibly experience to a greater depth whatever view you have been presented with.”</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1969
- Dimensions
- Overall image, approx: 14 × 204.5 cm (5 9/16 × 80 9/16 in.); Overall paper, approx: 24 × 204.5 cm (9 1/2 × 80 9/16 in.); Frame: 49.8 × 225.4 × 2.5 cm (19 5/8 × 88 3/4 × 1 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Michael Heizer
Artist

Painting
Learn about the work and career of artist Michael Heizer. Artworks, biography, exhibitions, news, museum exhibitions, press, and more.
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More by Michael Heizer
45°, 90°, 180°
1982 · Lithograph with ballpoint pen additions
Preparatory material for Levitated Mass (1982)
1982 · Gelatin silver print
Preparatory material for Levitated Mass (1982)
1982 · Gelatin silver print
Preparatory material for Levitated Mass (1982)
1982 · Gelatin silver print
Preparatory material for Levitated Mass (1982)
1982 · Gelatin silver print
Preparatory material for Levitated Mass (1982)
1982 · Gelatin silver print
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Michael Heizer
- Year
- 1969
- Dimensions
- Overall image, approx: 14 × 204.5 cm (5 9/16 × 80 9/16 in.); Overall paper, approx: 24 × 204.5 cm (9 1/2 × 80 9/16 in.); Frame: 49.8 × 225.4 × 2.5 cm (19 5/8 × 88 3/4 × 1 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1969-108202
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified





