Actual Size: Munich Rotary
1970

In 1969, in a Munich suburb, Michael Heizer created Munich Depression, a 16-foot-deep void with gently sloping sides that reached 100 feet in diameter. Viewers experienced the work in two ways: from a distance, as an interruption in the flat ground, and from within, as a gravel and earth interior forming a horizon line against the open sky above. After completing Munich Depression, Heizer made the photographic projection installation Actual Size: Munich Rotary, a 360-degree view of Munich Depression projected from large photographic glass plates created from Heizer’s own negatives and screened through six custom-made projectors. Like Munich Depression, Heizer’s granular, black-and-white, actual-size projections of the gravel and earth sides, horizon, and ribbon of sky explore how optical perception is determined by location. The gallery, which normally allows us an exterior view of sculptures, here defines a negative space that encloses us in its interior. The installation does not simply document Munich Depression—it also creates a parallel, independent work that emphasizes the tension between real space and its photographic counterpart.