The Southwest’s Wildest Outdoor Art: From Lightning Fields to Sun Tunnels

A secret field that summons lightning. A massive spiral that disappears into a salt lake. A celestial observatory carved into a volcano. Meet the wild—and sometimes explosive—world of land art, where artists craft masterpieces with dynamite and bulldozers.

In our Season 2 premiere, guest Dylan Thuras, cofounder of Atlas Obscura, takes us off road and into the minds of the artists who literally reshaped parts of the Southwest. These works aren’t meant to be easy to reach—or to explain—but they just might change how you see the world.

Land art you’ll visit in this episode:
- Double Negative and City by Michael Heizer (Garden Valley, Nevada)
- Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson (Great Salt Lake, Utah)
- Sun Tunnels by Nancy Holt (Great Basin Desert, Utah)
- Lightning Field by Walter De Maria (Catron County, New Mexico)
- Roden Crater by James Turrell (Painted Desert, Arizona)

Via Podcast is a production of AAA Mountain West Group.