# Monolith-mania Continues as Artists Come Forward to Claim Credit for Sculptures

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Original source URL: <https://hyperallergic.com/606128/monolith-mania-continues-as-artists-come-forward-to-claim-credit-for-sculptures/>
Retrieved source URL: <https://hyperallergic.com/monolith-mania-continues-as-artists-come-forward-to-claim-credit-for-sculptures/>
Source title: Monolith-mania Continues as Artists Come Forward to Claim Credit for Sculptures
Publication (archive label): Hyperallergic
Source author: Hakim Bishara
Source publication date: 2020-12-08T20:56:30.000Z
Original archive label: Monolith-mania Continues as Artists Come Forward to Claim Credit for Sculptures , Hyperallergic, December 2020
Original archive date label: December 2020
Archive entry: https://www.themostfamousartist.com/#press-4c631c0b4245
Retrieved at: 2026-11-03T17:27:21+00:00
Body word count (whitespace-delimited): 251
Body SHA256: 21bc508cc8de4fcec35cb7fb5dffde826986cb36bd9f4b381fd69005d8900414

Republished under rights confirmed by the site owner on 2026-11-03. Text formatting is simplified; images, video, and interactive elements are not reproduced. Historical archive date labels may differ from verified publisher metadata.

## Copy notes

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## Article text

The monolith-mania continues across the globe, with more shiny stainless steel pillars popping up in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Colombia, California, Las Vegas, New Mexico, and the Isle Of Wight off the coast of England. Many disappeared as quickly as they emerged.

In California, a group of four artists and fabricators have come forward as the makers of a monolith that first appeared atop Pine Mountain in Atascadero on December 2. The artists shared a YouTube video showing them hoisting a second monolith after the first one was toppled and replaced with a crucifix.

Wade McKenzie, one of the members of the group, told the *New York Times*: “We intended for it to be a piece of guerrilla art. But when it was taken down in such a malicious manner, we decided we needed to replace it.”

The group did not claim responsibility for another monolith that appeared in California's Los Padres National Forest last week.

In a separate development, "the Most Famous Artist," a New Mexico-based artist collective founded by Matty Mo, is selling monolith replicas for a whopping $45,000, suggesting that they were responsible for the original Utah monolith which set off this global, increasingly commercialized phenomenon.

What started as a mysterious phenomenon that stirred our collective imagination and helped distract us from the woes of 2020, has quickly become an advertising tool for major corporations. Just look at how companies like Jeep, McDonalds, Southwest Airlines, and Moon Pie, have used the "alien structure" to sell us their goods.