Outdoor works

The Human time is movement (spring) is a variation on the Clelia curve. This shape, described in the eighteenth century by the mathematician Guido Grandi, is created by tracing a point as it moves along two axes of a sphere simultaneously. The resulting curve corresponds to the way one peels an orange or winds up a ball of wool. Unlike the Clelia curve, however, these works add a further direction of movement to their creation, pulling the point inwards along the radius of the sphere towards the center as it travels along the axes from the poles towards the equator. The tightness and density of the resulting spiral relate to the relative speed of rotation along the two axes. In this series of works, the different rates of rotation lead to strikingly different forms, communicating the felt passage of time as embodied by movement. The centre of each of the structures is at eye level, and the black-and-white paint scheme mimics the behaviour of a light source at the centre – white indicates where the light would strike the form, and black where it would be in shadow – thereby increasing the three-dimensional, bodily presence of the sculptures.

The overall circumference of the work is approximately 320cm, meaning the center point is at human eye level (approx. 160cm) which allows viewers to best appreciate the physicalized geometric relationship of the two circles, creating a sphere. One side of the steel tubing is painted black while the other is painted white, and one could imagine a lightbulb at the center of the work, illuminating outwards, so any surface that would be lit is painted white, and any part that would be in darkness is painted black. In so doing, Eliasson reiterates the spherical nature of the artwork, with viewers able to see black and white portions simultaneously. 

WE CHANGE EACH OTHER  is a monumental light installation whose text appears in various languages, depending on the location it is presented. This play on languages translates Shilpa Gupta’s questioning of unity and amalgamation of cultures in a world where various human beings come into contact with each other. WE CHANGE EACH OTHER reflects the artist’s interest in flux within interpersonal spaces, whether it be intergenerational or shaped by religion, politics, or gender. By interweaving local languages in a poetic fashion, Gupta highlights the hegemonic power of language, its historical past and mutations.

Remarkable in scale and execution, Two Immovable Heads was produced through an intimate logic that has now become signature to Manders' practice. Rendered entirely in cast bronze, two figures are joined, but facing away from one another, appearing as if they were soft clay, mid-way through the process of becoming a sculpture.  In casting the sculpture in bronze, the artist freezes a very specific moment in time, highlighting the fragility of every moment that passes. The manipulation of material and scale generates a sense of puzzlement and awe, masterfully creating a sense of timelessness— while the sculpture seems to be just made, it is at the same time enigmatically atemporal. Two Immovable Heads is related to Manders’ monumental site-specific permanent installation at the Rokin Art Foundation in Amsterdam.

This outdoor bronze sculpture is from Long’s Knowirds series. In this series, Long’s remarkably figurative abstractions comprise three dimensional visualizations based upon bird droppings that the artist observed and photographed along the concrete banks of the L.A. River. The forms themselves are incredibly elegant, yet tactile and complex in surface and material. Charles started by mixing plaster, wire, found objects, and materials found in and around the river itself. In the spirit of Thoreau and Walden Pond, Melville and the oceans and the Hudson River School romantics, the artist mined the river as a source of rich meaning. 

This works is inspired by a 1622 song by Welsh composer Thomas Tomkins. Titled Too Much I Once Lamented, Tomkins’s song takes the form of a madrigal, a type of musical composition that involves the overlay of multiple voices joined in harmony. The five-part ballad describes a heartbroken lover in a state of solitary reflection and evokes themes of loss, longing, and hope. 

In her own rendition, the artist sings all five parts herself. Recorded separately, each track is played on one of five speakers installed within the water court and the adjoining reflecting pool. Madrigals traditionally aim to achieve the illusion of breathlessness by layering multiple voices over one another to create a seamless whole. In contrast, Philipsz makes her inhalations and pauses clearly audible, thereby emphasizing separation over unity. According to Philipsz, “The voices weave in and out of each other but at the same time are disconnected, emphasizing feelings of solitude and isolation.”

Cloud Cities: Species of Spaces and Other Pieces* is a series of sculptures that provide specially-designed habitats for a range of animals, colored in tones of brown, orange, green, and yellow, of shades that connect to the Earth’s flora and fauna, reflecting seasonal difference. Developed in consultation with ornithologists and wildlife organizations, the works stand as meditations on biodiversity that imagine alternative models for interspecies encounters.

The sculptures’ forms are inspired by cumulonimbus clouds, more commonly known as thunderclouds, which forewarn of stormy weather and occur more frequently as a result of climate change. These works are part of Saraceno’s long-standing project Cloud Cities. This proposal for an alternative form of urbanism and assembly that brings together constellations of geodesic modules, inspired by principles within the universe that affect the groupings of cosmic clouds and soap bubbles. Saraceno asks, what forms of assembly and urban architecture might emerge when large cities are not built from a solely human perspective?

*Title inpsired by French novelist Georges Perec's collection of writing Species of Spaces and Other Pieces (1974).