Much of the visual impact of Michael Heizer's Scrap Metal Drypoints arises from the rhythmic relationship between the plates’ variegated markings and the whiteness of the paper. Light, acids, and other environmental pollution can have deleterious effects on paper, and since its printing in 1978, Scrap Metal Drypoint #6 has developed perimeter staining and overall discoloration. In Heizer’s monumental outdoor sculpture and land art, the type of work for which he is best known, he welcomes, even courts, the contingent effects of atmospheric, environmental, and meteorological intervention. When asked about the Scrap Metal Drypoints, though, Heizer was explicit that evidence of the effects of environment and time was undesirable. Conservators and curators, in consultation with the artist, devised a treatment plan that would mitigate the discoloration of the paper.