Anish Kapoor

Research Kapoor's work in order to discuss the ideas behind 3 quite different works from countries outside New Zealand.

Memory, Anish Kapoor

The raw, brown, Cor-Ten steel structure, just 8mm thick, is like a landed alien pod or a relic from an old war, unwieldy, tightly fit into the otherwise bare white space.The claustrophobic physicality deliberately impedes viewing the entire object at once. Instead the spectator is forced to creep around and piece together fragmented perspectives, the individualized creation of what Kapoor calls 'mental sculpture', all the while wondering how on earth the thing stays upright.

Cloud Gate

Cloud Gate is a public sculpture by Anish Kapoor in Millennium Park, Chicago. The sculpture is shaped like an ellipse, and its legume-like appearance has caused it to be nicknamed “The Bean”. It is made of 168 highly polished stainless steel plates, and stands at 33 feet high, 66 feet long, and 42 feet wide, weighing 110 tons.From a distance it could be mistaken for a huge drop of mercury, while up close its highly reflective surface captures and transforms the skyline, the downtown cityscape and even the passers-by into a wonderfully warped new vista. The artist, Anish Kapoor, has referred to the sculpture as “a gate to Chicago, a poetic idea about the city it reflects.” The 12-foot underbelly is called the “omphalos” or navel and multiplies reflections in a vortex.

Turbine Hall

The sculpture consists of three steel rings joined together by a single span of PVC membrane. Two of the rings are positioned vertically, at each end of the space, while this picture shows the third ring, suspended parallel with the bridge.

Discuss the large scale site specific work that has been installed on a private site in New Zealand

The private site, known as the farm is located in the North Island of New Zealand in Kaipara Bay. The sculpture that sits on two identical steel eclipses that weigh 42,750kg each, is made out of custom red PVC. It was created and designed to withstand the high winds that blow off the cliffs of the North-West cost of the North Island and the Tasman Sea. Its design is similar to the Turbine Hall exhibited in the Tate Modern Gallery in London.