Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Press Play Replay: Graffiti in National Parks, and the Path of Levitated Mass
Press Play is off for the Fourth of July, and so we are hosting a replay today. From our archives, we revisit the artists Noah Purifoy and Michael Heizer, graffiti artist Mr. Andre, and memoirist Alexandra Fuller.
By Madeleine Brand • • 52m ListenPress Play is off for the Fourth of July, so we are hosting a replay today: four independent thinkers from our archives. First, the late artist Noah Purifoy spent the last 15 years of his life in the Mojave desert creating huge sculptures made of junk. Now, the L.A. County Museum of Art has brought Purifoy’s more recent large-scale works out of the desert sun and inside for Angelenos to see. Then, the 340-ton boulder that is now an art object at LACMA called “Levitated Mass” had to travel 106 miles, very slowly, to get to its final destination. That journey is chronicled in a documentary we revisit. Next, hikers and nature lovers have started reporting graffiti in parks, and the Modern Hiker community has been acting as an unofficial police investigation force when it comes to tracking down taggers. Finally, Alexandra Fuller had an extremely unconventional childhood in southern Africa, which she describes vividly in her first bestselling memoir, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight.
In this episode
4 storiesPurifoy at LACMA
The late artist Noah Purifoy spent the last 15 years of his life in the Mojave desert, creating huge sculptures made of junk. Purifoy was also a big figure in L.A., as a founding director of the Watts Towers Art Center. Before moving to the desert, he was most known for a sculpture constructed from charred debris from the 1965 Watts Rebellion.
Read the story12 minThe Path of Levitated Mass
The 340-ton boulder that is now an art object at LACMA called “Levitated Mass” first had to travel 106 miles, very slowly, to get to its final destination. The process involved getting permission from the two dozen localities the rock had to travel through.
Read the story14 minGraffiti in National Parks
Andre Saraiva, the graffiti artist known as Mr. Andre or Mr. A, has taken his paint into Joshua Tree National Park, where his signature tag has appeared on boulders in the desert.
Read the story11 minAlexandra Fuller and 'Leaving Before the Rains Come'
Alexandra Fuller had an extremely unconventional childhood in southern Africa, which she described vividly in her first bestselling memoir, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight . A civil war raged, tropical diseases were common, dangerous hippos lurked in nearby waters, and her family had more than its fair share of tragedy.
Read the story15 min
