Utah's Monolith under the Milky Way

[JeffWarnerPHOTO]

I took a frantic drive out to a spot 80 miles WSW of Moab to 'greet the visitor'. Any Kubrick/2001 fan would be mesmerized by this thing sprouting up 17 miles down a bumpy dirt road near the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. 25 hours door-to-door, including 6.5 hours of shooting. Tried to keep it all as realistic as possible, hope I did justice to this wondrous object/location. 5Ds and Tamron 35/1.4, 13 and 45s exposures (sky and foreground), composite consists of 3 rows of 6 images, including focus-stacking the foreground. Had to wait quite awhile to get rid of the moon; you'd think it might be helpful for a subject like this... not.

For anyone interested, you can find more info here, including some ramblings about art, light and the BLM. Speaking of which, I really hope they don't remove it,

[Chris Peterson]

I took a frantic drive out to a spot 80 miles WSW of Moab to 'greet the visitor'. Any Kubrick/2001 fan would be mesmerized by this thing sprouting up 17 miles down a bumpy dirt road near the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. 25 hours door-to-door, including 6.5 hours of shooting. Tried to keep it all as realistic as possible, hope I did justice to this wondrous object/location. 5Ds and Tamron 35/1.4, 13 and 45s exposures (sky and foreground), composite consists of 3 rows of 6 images, including focus-stacking the foreground. Had to wait quite awhile to get rid of the moon; you'd think it might be helpful for a subject like this... not.

For anyone interested, you can find more info here, including some ramblings about art, light and the BLM. Speaking of which, I really hope they don't remove it,

I hope they remove it ASAP. Not very funny, not very impressive as art, and not very nice for that natural landscape.

[JeffWarnerPHOTO]

Considering how much of the earth's surface man has tred upon (built upon, bulldozed, etc.) , I find it compelling that someone would install some art in the middle of nowhere, not really knowing if anyone would ever find it or not. Not that it should be open season for others to do the same, but many areas of BLM lands are absolutely destroyed by dirt bikes, ATVs, litter, fire rings, etc. The impact of this pales in comparison, though assuredly people will continue to go see it until the internet fame wears off.

[neufer]

Sixshooter Peaks in Bears Ears National Monument

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The Bears Ears from Utah State Route 261

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<<A metallic pillar dubbed the "Utah monolith" was discovered in the red canyons of southeast Utah by state biologists in November 2020. The object has been dated to a time between August 2015 and October 2016. Public officials withheld its location to prevent people from becoming lost trying to find it. It was subsequently shown to be in Lockhart Basin in San Juan County, on land that President Donald Trump removed from Bears Ears National Monument in 2017. Bears Ears National Monument is a United States national monument located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, established by President Barack Obama by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016.

The metal structure is 9.5 feet (2.9 m) tall and is located in a slot canyon in an area of red rocks. It has three sides and appears to be made of stainless steel sheets, joined with rivets, with a hollow inside. Wendy Wischer of the University of Utah's School of Fine Art who said "One person alone could not have done it so there is a group of people who have some knowledge of it somewhere. Most artists want some recognition for what they are doing but this seems to include a level of humor and mystery as part of the intention".>>

[neufer]

For anyone interested, you can find more info here, including some ramblings about art, light and the BLM. Speaking of which, I really hope they don't remove it,

I hope they remove it ASAP. Not very funny, not very impressive as art, and not very nice for that natural landscape.

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<<Toblerone was created by Emil Baumann & Theodor Tobler (1876–1941) in Bern, Switzerland, in 1908. Emil Baumann, the cousin of Theodor Tobler, created the unique recipe consisting of milk chocolate including nougat, almonds, and honey. Theodor Tobler came up with the distinctive teardrop shape and packaging. The product's name is a portmanteau combining Tobler's name with the Italian word torrone (a type of nougat). The triangular shape of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps is commonly believed to have given Theodor Tobler his inspiration for the shape of Toblerone. However, according to Theodor's sons, the triangular shape originates from a pyramid shape that dancers at the Folies Bergères created as the finale of a show that Theodor saw.

Theodor Tobler applied for a patent for the Toblerone manufacturing process in Bern in 1909. The Toblerone brand was trademarked in 1909, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property in Bern. The distinct pyramidal shape of the bar lent its name to the Toblerone line, a series of anti-tank emplacements prevalent in Switzerland's border areas. The interior of the Tobler factory in Switzerland was the location where the title sequence of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was filmed.>>

[geckzilla]

I took a frantic drive out to a spot 80 miles WSW of Moab to 'greet the visitor'. Any Kubrick/2001 fan would be mesmerized by this thing sprouting up 17 miles down a bumpy dirt road near the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. 25 hours door-to-door, including 6.5 hours of shooting. Tried to keep it all as realistic as possible, hope I did justice to this wondrous object/location. 5Ds and Tamron 35/1.4, 13 and 45s exposures (sky and foreground), composite consists of 3 rows of 6 images, including focus-stacking the foreground. Had to wait quite awhile to get rid of the moon; you'd think it might be helpful for a subject like this... not.

For anyone interested, you can find more info here, including some ramblings about art, light and the BLM. Speaking of which, I really hope they don't remove it,

I hope they remove it ASAP. Not very funny, not very impressive as art, and not very nice for that natural landscape.

It's gone.

[JeffWarnerPHOTO]

Pretty sure the person who constructed it removed it. You'd have to know how it was constructed to be able to quickly remove it, which apparently is how it happened. Perhaps it will pop up somewhere else...