Anish Kapoor. Memory (2008), Guggenheim, NY
Memory is a site-specific work that was conceived to engage two different exhibition locations at the Guggenheim museums in Berlin and New York. Utilizing Cor-Ten steel for the first time, the sculpture represents a milestone in Kapoor’s career. Memory’s thin steel skin, only eight millimeters thick, suggests a form that is ephemeral and unmonumental. The sculpture appears to defy gravity as it gently glances against the periphery of the gallery walls and ceiling. However, as a 24-ton volume, Memory is also raw, industrial, and foreboding. Positioned tightly within the gallery, Memory is never fully visible; instead the work fractures and divides the gallery into several distinct viewing areas.
The division compels visitors to navigate the museum, searching for vantage points that offer only glimpses of the sculpture. This processional method of viewing Memory is an intrinsic aspect of the work. Visitors are asked to contemplate the ensuing fragmentation by attempting to piece together images retained in their minds, exerting effort in the act of seeing—a process Kapoor describes as creating a “mental sculpture.”
[Third viewing area]
most breathtaking. from afar we perceive a two-dimensional black canvas. i was a bit disappointed that this was the third part of the installation. however, i was intrigued by the lushness of the black. was the canvas wrapped in velvet? as u approach the canvas, u suddenly realize that this is a three-dimensional opening, with immense depth. this is in fact the cavernous interior of the sculpture. as it is covered by light-absorbing black tiles it gives the impression of rich color and two-dimensionality. the installation beckons constantly. i had the urge to crawl into spaces around it, to discover it, feel it, see it as one complete structure. the third viewing area was most inviting. there was a line on the floor beyond which we could not venture. it was hard not to pop one’s head into the dark opening. kapoor explains that it’s more than just curiosity which compels us to do so. the darkness that exists within each and everyone of us, attracts us inexorably to the darkness inside the sculpture. love it!