Ishmael Randall-Weeks b. 1976
Endless Column, 2021
Fired clay
360 x 45 x 25 cm
141 73/100 x 17 36/50 x 9 42/50 in
141 73/100 x 17 36/50 x 9 42/50 in
Endless Column (Turista) is a floor piece which consists of a stack of reproductions of Huacos (earthen ceramic ceremonial vessels) arranged visually as if emerging from the floor and into...
Endless Column (Turista) is a floor piece which consists of a stack of reproductions of Huacos (earthen ceramic ceremonial vessels) arranged visually as if emerging from the floor and into the ceiling ad infinitum. The objects are replicas of a variety of pieces found across archaeological sites in Peru and typically reproduced as tourist souvenirs: Cuchimilcos, figurines from the Chancay culture found in the central coast of Peru usually in male-female pairs at burial sites; Moche male portrait vessels used as drinking vessels and found in elite tombs; and finally, Chimu pots. The column is about possibilities as much as it is about fragility and queries our contemporary relationship to museums and archaeological finds. The title is a nod to Brancusi’s sculpture of the same name.