Over a decade, Los Angeles-based artist Ian James has documented more than 75 pyramid-shaped structures across nearly 20 US states, now compiled in his new book Pyramids: Special Economic Vortex Zones of North America. His journey began in 2017 at the Pain Reliever Bar & Grill in Nekoma, North Dakota, where locals helped him access the Stanley R Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, a former Cold War anti-ballistic missile facility with a brutalist concrete radar tower resembling a pyramid.
James's fascination with pyramids stemmed from a new age music radio show he hosted on KCHUNG radio, featuring cassette tapes adorned with pyramid motifs. He hypothesises that the intersection of new age beliefs and pyramid buildings reflects what he calls 'capitalist metaphysics'—the use of ancient, eastern energetic properties to manifest American values and create a space for laissez-faire capitalism.
Notable sites include the Bass Pro Shops pyramid in Memphis, originally conceived in the 1950s as part of the Great America Pyramids. Built in 1991, it has served as a concert venue and NBA stadium, but was vacant for nearly a decade before Bass Pro Shops renovated it with $100m of taxpayer money. The owner reportedly agreed only after catching a catfish in the Mississippi River, and questions remain about whether the city receives its full 2% of gross sales.
James also photographed the Church of Shambhala Vajradhara Maitreya Sangha, a Buddhist monastery in northern California, where he underwent 'soul therapy' inside a plastic pyramid wrapped with copper wire. He notes that even sacred structures in the US must generate income or financial sustainability, reflecting a profit-driven spiritual experience.
