Watch the LACMA rock's 11-night adventure [video]

The tale of a 350-ton piece of granite traveling from a quarry in Riverside County to the campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art captivated much of Southern California over the last two weeks.

Now: the video.

Times videographer Jeff Amlotte joined the caravan during its 11-night trip, capturing the sounds and scenes, the tight squeezes and the growing crowds.

The shrink-wrapped boulder was carried on a custom transporter across four counties. Its eventual resting place will be as the centerpiece of the museum's permanent art installation "Levitated Mass" by reclusive Nevada artist Michael Heizer.

The museum paid $70,000 for the rock itself and is spending $10 million to transport it and build the public art work -- all paid for with private donations.

MAP: Follow the route

And in case you missed it Sunday night, here's a first person story by Times reporter Deborah Vankin about her own adventure with the caravan.

RELATED:

Giant rock ends its journey to LACMA

LACMA's Michael Govan talks about his new rock star

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

--Sherry Stern

Twitter.com/@sherrystern

Culture Monster

All the Arts, All the Time

Category: Sherry Stern

Following the big rock as it arrives at LACMA, tweet by tweet

March 10, 2012 |  9:40 am

 

6

Culture Monster has followed the 11-day journey of LACMA's giant boulder across four counties with reporter Deborah Vankin. She has kept us up to date with her blog posts, stories and several all-nighters of live tweeting.

Vankin was on the scene again Friday night into Saturday morning as the long, wide caravan traveled the final leg of its 105-mile trip from a Riverside County quarry to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The evening began on Figueroa Street between 63rd and 65th streets.

Along the way, the rock encountered illegally parked cars, low-hanging traffic signals, giant palm trees, gawkers who were both amazed and befuddled, and one former Laker who got to ride along with the rock.

For those just catching up: The 340-ton boulder is protected in shrink wrap and sits in a steel sling on a custom transporter. Its eventual resting place will be as the centerpiece of the museum's permanent art installation, "Leviated Mass," by Nevada artist Michael Heizer. The museum paid $70,000 for the rock itself and is spending $10 million to transport it and build the art installation -- all paid with private donations.

Following LACMA's big rock through Long Beach, tweet by tweet

The circuitous 11-day journey of LACMA's giant boulder finished its most challenging route yet Thursday morning, squeezing through the busy byways of Long Beach.

Los Angeles Times reporter Deborah Vankin has been following the rock's trip and live tweeted from the scene starting Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning.

The $10-million caravan was celebrated first with a block party in the neighborhood of Bixby Knolls and ended its travels in the middle of a street in Carson.

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

The 105-mile journey is scheduled to end up at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art early Saturday. The giant boulder eventually will be the focal point of artist Michael Heizer's landmark sculpture "Levitated Mass" on the museum grounds.

Here, for those who were not following Vankin in the middle of the night, is a recap of her tweets and photos.

RELATED:

MAP: Follow the route

Full coverage:  LACMA's rock

On the road with LACMA's big rock, minute by minute

-- Sherry Stern
twitter.com/sherrystern

Photo: Long Beach residents gather on the sidealk in the 3600 block of Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, where the LACMA rock paused Wednesday on its journey. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

LACMA's big rock will finally roll Tuesday

It’s official: After nearly half a year of delays, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s 340-ton monolith, sitting in a Riverside County quarry, will finally begin its journey to the museum on Tuesday night.

The rock will hit the road on its custom-built transporter between 10 and 11p.m. and travel at the painstakingly slow speed of about 5 miles per hour. It’s due to arrive at LACMA in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday, March 10.

From there -- likely the following Monday, the museum says -- the boulder will be loaded into its final resting place outside the Resnick Pavilion, where it will form the center of artist Michael Heizer’s enormous sculpture, “Levitated Mass.”  

The rock will travel through four counties and 22 cities, so it's no surprise that the numerous delays have been mostly due to permit issues -- not to mention the mind-boggling logistics of moving a two-story-high chunk of granite, weighing 680,000 pounds, through congested urban areas. 

Which is partly why, on Tuesday night, quarry owner Stephen Vanderhart will throw a reception for approximately 300 people to see the rock off, complete with a BBQ truck and a DJ.

Culture Monster will be there, of course, with updates throughout the evening. And, hey, we may even score one of Vanderhart’s custom T-shirts bearing the sentiment “Big. Rock. Roll.”

ALSO:

Between a rock and LACMA, it's a hard place

LACMA director Michael Govan dreams big

From Riverside to Los Angeles: The Heizer rock's roundabout route

Interactive: Getting the rock ready to roll

--Deborah Vankin

Twitter.com/@debvankin

Photo: LACMA's rock. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times  

Michael Heizer's 'Levitated Mass' will soon journey to LACMA

Things are getting ready to roll, quite literally, for LACMA's "Levitated Mass."

On Thursday the museum led a hard-hat press tour to Stone Valley Quarry in Riverside to meet the object of its affection: a 340-ton, 21 1/2-foot-high granite boulder. “The monolith,” as LACMA calls it, will form the centerpiece of the outdoor sculpture-in-progress, “Levitated Mass” by artist Michael Heizer on the LACMA campus.

At Thursday’s quarry visit, Rick Albrecht of Emmert International, the firm that is transporting the boulder, explained that it will travel in a custom-built transporter, at night only, and average seven miles a day. The approximately 85-mile journey, normally a 1 1/2-hour drive, will take a circuitous route lasting a week to 10 days. Altogether, 50 to 60 people –- drivers, utility crews and police escorts among them –- will travel with the rock caravan.

The entire project, including the boulder, construction on the sculpture's site and transport, will cost between $5 million and $10 million, said museum director Michael Govan. It's largely being funded by private donations and through Hanjin Shipping.