An Art of Hard Places: Intermediality in Walter De Maria’s Beds of Spikes and The Lightning Field

Abstract

Many authors have speculated about the connection between Walter De Maria’s Beds of Spikes (1968/1969) and his magnum opus The Lightning Field (1977). This article directly links the two by means of a visual analysis of De Maria’s unknown film Beds of Spikes (1968/1969), presenting this film as much more than a mere documentary of the sculpture series of the same name. It argues that The Lightning Field was already imagined by the artist in the sculptural Beds of Spikes. The article also uses previously unpublished materials in the Archives of American Art to argue that these three works by De Maria are intrinsically connected in their focus on intermediality. This article shows that De Maria’s use of intermediality exemplifies how land art sculptures were not only site-specific, located within the landscape or in an exhibition space, but also time-specific, mediated through photography, film, and television.