Chris Burden’s Metropolis II: the greatest Hot Wheels track ever devised?

Have Hot Wheels been raised to the status of high art? Quite possibly.

For some, it is an item of deep meaning and contemplation: It represents the thrum of the unsleeping City of Angels, the perpetual motion unceasing. Viewed from above, it’s as if you’re watching blood course through the maze of veins, bringing oxygen to our organs and muscles. For the rest of us, Chris Burden’s Metropolis II might simply be the greatest Hot Wheels track ever devised.

Metropolis I, built two years ago, utilized 80 Hot Wheels around a pair of single-lane highways; a monorail was also included. It was quickly purchased by the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan. What you see here, the sequel, is far larger: 1,200 Hot Wheels circulating throughout the city, 18 lanes of traffic (much like the 405 near the airport, ha ha), a baker’s dozen trains and lines, and buildings made from various materials many of us would recognize from our childhoods — not just tiles and wooden blocks, but also Lincoln Logs and Lego bricks.  The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will be claiming Metropolis II upon completion.

The finishing touches are being put on now; click above for a hypnotic two-minute video of Metropolis II.