Metropolis II opens at LACMA

Councilman LaBonge and artist Chris Burden hold the ignition-key to start-up Metropolis II during the opening at LACMA on January 11th, 2012

Councilman Tom LaBonge was on-hand to help "start-up" LACMA's new Kinetic Sculpture installation called Metropolis II. Designed and built by artist Chris Burden, who created the Urban Lights installation outside of LACMA, Metropolis II is a complex, large-scale kinetic sculpture modeled after a fast-paced modern city. The armature of the piece is constructed of steel beams, forming an eclectic grid interwoven with an elaborate system of eighteen roadways, including a six-lane freeway, train tracks and hundreds of buildings. 1,100 miniature toy cars speed through the city at 240 scale miles per hour on the specially-designed plastic roadways. Every hour, the equivalent of approximately 100,000 cars circulates through the sculpture. It's futuristic and retro at the same time ... and sure to fascinate kids of all ages.

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