Originally created in 1968, the piece is only made up of photocopied paper. Porter crunched and folded each piece and attached it to the wall in angular forms. Climbing up the wall the paper has its own unique topography, with each side rising in peaks and varying in thickness. The parts that are more built up with many sheets of paper emulate large boulders that could sit loosely on a mountain’s top. Gently sloping down, the origami-like conglomerations of paper form the rocky edges of the mountain that meet with the floor. The printed texture acts as the mountain’s summit, which is placed directly on the wall in a sweeping flat installation.
Porter also made the installation to be interactive for visitors. The size of the piece depends entirely on the visitor. One side of the piece has three pads of printed paper mounted to it, its patterns camouflaged into the piece. Visitors are invited to tear a piece off of the provided pads, and wrinkle them in any way they please. The visitors are then asked to place their wrinkled pieces into a provided clear receptacle. The museum staff then adds the pieces to the installation. Each time the installation is exhibited in a space, it varies, depending on how the visitors wrinkle their pieces. After each exhibition, the installation can then be recycled, creating no waste whatsoever.
+ Liliana Porter
Images ©Lori Zimmer for Inhabitat
