INSTALLATION IS A HOT SPOT FOR SELFIES

cacti and other plants, delightfully popping off the figurative canvas in a most inhospitable place. Several mountain ranges loom in the distance.

And it is highly photogenic. According to the Reno Gazette-journal, more than 2 million people have taken selfies, or the like, at Seven Magic Mountains for Instagram. After getting a special permit, Vogue used the installation as the backdrop for a photo shoot in April 2017. Beyoncé, Jay-z and daughter Blue Ivy have even been here.

On the day of my visit, the “photographers” are out in force, as are their subjects. There’s the woman who performs a handstand against one of the towers. She also does a headstand a few feet away. Then she takes several photos of the couple who photographed her. Initially they stand in front of a tower. Next they stage their best “jump.” There are several sets of parents who let their children climb onto the boulders, as if they’re some sort of jungle gym, for pictures. A small sign asks people to stay off the artwork, but it’s obvious from some of the worn paint that that plea has been ignored. I’m sure the sun and other elements haven’t helped either. (Early on, vandals defaced some of the boulders with graffiti.)

So why did Rondinone choose this site? Sevenmagicmountains.com says that, according to the artist, “the location is physically and symbolically midway between the natural and the artificial,” the natural being the mountains, desert and dry lake bed backdrop, the artificial being “the highway and the constant flow of traffic between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.”

“In the past, land art has been camouflaging art,” he told the Las Vegas Review-journal, but “by giving a layer of color, we are bringing together the pop art movement and land art.” Land art isn’t entirely new to the Nevada desert. Michael Heizer and Jean Tinguely created works nearby in the 1960s.

I spend 30 or 45 minutes here, meandering around the towers and backing up, up, up into the desert in an attempt to get that perfect shot: the one with all seven towers — and no people. It clearly isn’t in the cards, as there is a constant stream of visitors. Maybe I’ll be back one day. I bet it would be lovely, and desolate, at sunrise.