ALICJA KWADE
DESERT X 2021

DESERT X 2021, COACHELLA VALLEY, CA, USA
12 MARCH – 16 MAY 2021
PARAPIVOT (SEMPITERNAL CLOUDS) consists of interlocking frames supporting large blocks of white marble that appear as ice calved from a distant glacier. The array of steel and stone draws viewers into the frame of this massive, yet fragile, universe where simple forms yield complex meanings. As you approach and move in and out of its frames, you become aware of the experiential equivalent of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, an effect whereby observer interaction changes the form of the thing being interacted with. The result is an illusion of instability. This wobbling perception of size and relationship lies at the heart of the work, as with every step, the sculpture and its components reform into new combinations. Time and space become distorted as rocks pulled from 200 million years ago levitate into the clear blue sky. Like the experience of the desert itself, PARAPIVOT, even as it is made up largely of emptiness, is dense with meaning.

Curated by Desert X Artistic Director Neville Wakefield and Co-curator César García-Alvarez.
PARAPIVOT (SEMPITERNAL CLOUDS), 2020
powder-coated stainless steel, marble
635 x 858.6 x 587.1 cm