Monolith

MONOLITH seeks to strike the observer dumb with its immensity. At 100ft tall, it dwarfs any onlooker. It mimics the beautiful grandeur of natural forms through an architectural object. Like the Tower of Babel, it embodies man's reach towards heaven; our mastery of earth's materials.

3d renders and images produced by Phil Spitler.

MONOLITH (Stela) by Day from mizpoon on Vimeo.

Monolith (Stela) by Night from mizpoon on Vimeo.

MONOLITH (Stela) and the Drunk from mizpoon on Vimeo.

Monolith rises 100ft directly into the air from the playa, glowing gently as colors undulate and change across its surface. The tower is 35ft wide and 45ft long with a rigid base, built on a modified crane structure covered with tens of thousands of yards of white ripstop nylon. This piece has four controller stations that allow participants to paint the canvas, changing the color and movement of the patterns of light on the tower.

Like a waterfall, this piece brings fluidity and light, rippling sensuously against the wind, and responding to the whim of the people who paint light on its canvas. Monolith reflects the magnitude of nature's beauty, captured and erected in our little city at the hands of humans. It is not simply a work of art, but an architectural experience for pure aesthetic enjoyment. A kinetic monument to fertility: the power and fragility of humans.

At night, the tower comes alive, lit from the interior with LED lights, full color lasers and projected images. Each of four controllers is a 3x5ft glass screen depicting the color spectrum, fitted with motion sensors that participants can use to control the light display with a simple wave of the hand. Patterns and movement will repeat and slowly fade away as new ones are introduced. Multiple control points allow participants to manage separate portions of the tower's light. Action in one quadrant will influence what happens in the others.

During the day these control points also serve as hour markers, as the giant white tower creates a sundial, tracking the sun and marking time during the day.

Video projectors at the base of the tower will create an additional point of interactivity, as controls can be manipulated to created animated movement that are mapped on to the structure, originating from the desert floor. Colored shapes sweep across the canvas. Vines start to grow up the side of the tower. The result is a magnificent cooperative installation, constantly changing, and reflecting the whim of the people-- impermanent and ever changing.