MANTLE
Seattle, WA
2011
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Mantle was temporarily installed at the City of Seattle’s Bitterlake Reservoir for six months. Built with salvaged wood, a 30-foot-tall platform supported a semi-spherical shell composed of dozens of thin layers of biodegradable corn-based resin. The resin was designed to break down through prolonged exposure to moisture. Like an onion being gradually peeled, delaminating layers of the sculpture fell to the base of the sculpture and disintegrated into the ground. Viewers could not directly access the base of the sculpture because it stood 15 feet within the gated reservoir. The distance between viewers and the sculpture was a necessary safeguard due to the disintegrating nature of the project.
IMAGES
Mantle, Seattle, WA, 2011. Built with salvaged wood, a 30-foot-tall platform supported a semi-spherical shell composed of dozens of thin layers of corn-based resin. The resin was designed to break down through prolonged exposure to moisture.
MANTLE
Seattle, WA
2011
Mantle was temporarily installed at the City of Seattle’s Bitterlake Reservoir for six months. Built with salvaged wood, a 30-foot-tall platform supported a semi-spherical shell composed of dozens of thin layers of biodegradable corn-based resin. The resin was designed to break down through prolonged exposure to moisture. Like an onion being gradually peeled, delaminating layers of the sculpture fell to the base of the sculpture and disintegrated into the ground. Viewers could not directly access the base of the sculpture because it stood 15 feet within the gated reservoir. The distance between viewers and the sculpture was a necessary safeguard due to the disintegrating nature of the project.
IMAGES
Mantle, Seattle, WA, 2011. Built with salvaged wood, a 30-foot-tall platform supported a semi-spherical shell composed of dozens of thin layers of corn-based resin. The resin was designed to break down through prolonged exposure to moisture.
The wood platform was made with salvaged lumber from the roof of an old warehouse. The base wood was buried directly in the ground because the installation only lasted six months. The top was made of 28 thin layers of resin, heat-formed together into a unified carapace. Gradually, an alternating succession of rain and heat separated the layers of resin, causing the carapace to peel, shed, and pile the ground below with coiled flakes.
PROCESS