The Met’s Roof Top Garden Installation - ‘ParaPivot’

This year is indeed a great year to New Yorkers as they witness one of the works of an artist widely known for bending the laws of Physics. The Berlin based Artist Alicja Kwade, born in 1979 in Poland, creates sculptures and installations that reflect on time, space, science, philosophy and perception. Her works basically question the system designed by pondering on the universe.

For the Met’s roof top garden, Kwade has created an installation titled ‘ParaPivot’, for her first solo exhibition at a museum in the United States. The piece which is consisted of two large sculptures made of steel, rectangular frames and several huge spherical stones, seeks to evoke and manipulate the solar system.

For the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017, Kwade presented a sculpture titled ‘WeltenLinie’, which featured stones, a tree trunk and chairs surrounded by mirrors. In 2015, at Central Park, she created ‘Against the Run’, a 16 foot tall version of the New York City street clock. The installation which was a commission by the Public Art Fund, kept time like a regular clock would, however, it was designed to rotate backwards while the second hand stands still pointing vertically at all times.