World’s Biggest Column
Mixed Media Installation,
8.5 ft Drawing (Pen on Paper), Plywood, Dirt, Cardboard, Found Material
World’s Biggest Column is an ongoing body of work centered on the columns of the Mellon Institute building in Pittsburgh, which are allegedly the largest monolithic columns in the world. Among local residents, there is a circulating myth that one of these columns lies buried beneath the building, kept in reserve in case a replacement is ever needed. I am drawn to the generative space where architectural monumentality intersects with local folklore. Modeled after the Greek Acropolis, these columns are intended to evoke the ideals of the Western Renaissance. Yet the myth of a hidden, unused column is interesting to me because it suggests a latent failure of engineering embedded within a symbol of mastery. This tension between myth and material, gravity and humor is the space I continue to investigate in this project.
The 3D printed columns are scaled down models of the Mellon Institute building in Pittsburgh. Thinking of opaque ways of protest, I recorded the audio of myself striking the columns of the Mellon institute building with the rock present in this installation. The resulting audio is played on loop via an audio transducer attached to the sheet metal.