There was an artist that changed the rules in Art History and that was Walter De María (USA, 1935-2013), a singular and visionary figure who combined the precision of geometry and large scale. His installations gave new meaning to the experience of "watching" art. Some of his 11 permanent installations are The New York Earth Room (1977), The Broken Kilometer (1979), The Lightining Field (1977), all of which are examples of Land Art. 

During 1976-1990, De María, shifting to conceptual art, does a series of sculptures in solid steel as detachment of The Broken Kilometer. The artist explored mathematical sequences through a series of matching polygonal shapes. But he also used that exercise to meditate on the existence of humanity and the Universe. The installation is formed by 5 bars of steel placed one next to each other, separated in equal distances (Large Rod Series: Pedestal Road 5, 7, 9, 11, 13), facing a granite circle where it can be read "There Exists in the Universe More than One Billion Galaxies" (title of the artwork), meaning so much and yet so little. Opposite the black circle, a series of pencil drawings on paper about the creation of the polygonal bars.

Installation view - Gagosian Gallery, New York (2014)

Large Rod Series: Pedestal Road 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, by Walter De María

Materials: Five stainless steel bars, one of 5 sides, another of 7 sides, another of 9 sides, another of 11 sides and, finally, the last one, of 13 sides, placed in a growing sequence on wood pedestals  / Measures: 108.7 cm x 137.2 cm x 895.2 cm

"There Exists in the Uiverse More than One Billion Galaxies", by Walter De María (1988)

Materials: black granite / Measures: 120 cm diameter x 3.8 cm thickness

Pure Polygon Series (1975-1976), by Walter De María 

Porfolio of seven pencil drawings on paper / Measures: 91.4 x 91.4 cm 

Conceptualismo in general invites visitors to analyse and think. This particular installation wants us to understand how tiny humans are in relation to the vastness of the Universe.