Walter De Maria was 25 when he moved to New York to pursue a career in art and music. His beginning works such as "Cross" and "Bed of Spikes" were shown in galleries throughout New York with high praise. When not working on his arts he was playing drums with musicians such as Lou Reed on John Cale. His career lifted off in the late 60's when De Maria decided his works needed expand greatly past the gallery. Land art projects such as "Lightning Field", "Mile-Long Drawing", and "Desert Cross" emerged as a generally new form of art, the Earthwork. The sheer size of these pieces inspired and perplexed the viewer. The ephemeral nature of his art gave his works an extraordinary quality.