Hidden In The California Desert Near Joshua Tree Is A Bizarre Work Of Land Art Visible From Space

Most land artworks only reveal their true, vast form to birds and satellites. These large-scale creations built to follow the contours of the earth's landscape come together when taken in distantly, from space, making the human visitor feel minuscule by comparison. Michael Heizer's mysterious, secret "City" in Nevada is one example designed to make visitors feel lost in an inexplicable desert monument. But it highlights what makes land art worth visiting: the satisfaction isn't in seeing it all, but rather the experience of being inside the art. 

Perhaps nowhere embodies this better than the land artwork by Andrew Rogers called "Rhythms of Life." The giant sculpture north of Yucca Valley, California, spanning about 164 feet, is an enormous imprint in the desert visible from space and documented by satellite images. In fact, it would be impossible to capture the scope of Rogers' land art project all at once, since the earthwork in California is just one of a connected series of 51 structures (as of this writing) around the world.

At each site, Rogers typically incorporates two elements: one is an abstract motif that's been woven into the artist's work since the 1990s, and the other is a design chosen in collaboration with the people local to the site of the land art. The regionally selected design at the California site near Joshua Tree is based on a 3,000-year-old Native American petroglyph spotted nearby in the craggy formations of Coyote Hole, one of the most awe-inspiring destinations to see ancient rock art. It's an abstract depiction of a spear thrower, paired with the signature Rogers motif.

You'll find California's "Rhythms of Life" work on the Black Mesa in the arid expanse of the Mojave Desert. It's a bit over 2 hours driving from the Los Angeles International Airport, and a 20-minute drive from Joshua Tree National Park (if you're coming from Joshua Tree, be sure to check out its secret entrance with unique desert hikes). The earthworks are on a hillside, visible from the road as you pull in. There's parking at the end of the road, and then you can climb about a half mile up the fairly steep hill to walk among the stones that make up the artwork. You can explore, but are asked not to touch the artwork.

Notice how the light color of the stones contrasts with the dark tones of the mesa, which is made up of volcanic rock. Every element of the artwork, from the stones selected to the location, is a collusion between the artist and the landscape. Rogers calls his works "geoglyphs," a nod to the fact that they're shaped by and indebted to the earth on which they're built. "I find something sacred in the landscape ... It's so important that we build a symbol that's right for the land and for the people," Rogers said in a YouTube video about the artwork's making. Eventually, the artist foresees the works organically unraveling and succumbing back into the land's natural evolution, but for now, their shapes are a worthy sight to witness in the desert.