Cloud | Meteoros

Cloud | Meteoros is the development of a previous body of work, OrtaWater and the result of a field trip to Egypt in 2009, and more specifically a site visit to Moqattam, the Zabbaleen neighbourhoods of Cairo. Here, the community collect and recycle the city’s garbage notably huge bundles of plastic bottles. These organic formations inspired the sculpting process of the body of work.

The work explores the relationship between a lack of water in the world, the privatisation of the resource represented by plastic bottle bundles, and the parallel economy of people surviving on waste. The manipulation of plastic bottles as the raw material of the project required a different way of working as they generate an infinite variety of spatial constructions. The research experimentation included multiple processes to bind the bottles with hot glue, to smooth off crevices and stabilize the final organic formation with papier-maché. Subsequently metaphoric objects were integrated into the formation that were coated with a resin to create a durable shell to protect the fragile assemblages. The cloud formations were then hand finished and were subjected to experiments with metallic layers of paint to create the desired iridescent effects.

Meteoros derived from ancient Greek meaning, raised from the ground - hanging – lofty - in the midst of. A meteor is also an atmospheric phenomenon like a clouds wind or rain. The subject matter of clouds are particularly interesting because they inhabit two worlds: that of heaven and the skies in their airy gaseous form and of liquid rain when they fall to earth. The suspended sculpture Cloud | Meteoros symbolizes the space in between: that if the daily routines of the millions of passengers and visitors to the station and the freedom of our imagination, daydreams - looking up to the sky.

Cloud | Meteoros was the winning entry of the international sculpture competition, ‘Terrace Wires’ and was exhibited in the Barlow Shed at St Pancras International, London from 18 April - 15 October 2013. Inspired by the history and grandeur of the Barlow Shed, Cloud | Meteoros is designed to unite people inside the station with the world outside. Much like a Greek Agora, Meteoros is a meeting place floating above the St Pancras International where figures resting on top of the clouds echo the passengers waiting on the platforms below.

Instituting a dialogue with the architectural features of the station, the iron girders supporting the immense glass atrium of the Barlow Shed, the scale and subject matter is designed to inject drama and awe. Just in the way ceiling frescoes affected Renaissance dwellers many centuries ago, our hope is that this sculpture will similarly inspire Londoners, making them look-up and ultimately feel differently about their surroundings.

Cloud | Meteoros was widely reviewed in national and international press and led to presentations at the Royal College of Art and at ENSA-V, Versailles. It resulted in a new commission for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2013. It continues research undertaken for the Maréchalerie Centre for Contemporary Art and the Gypsotheque of the Louvre Museum, Versailles in 2011.

• http://www.studio-orta.com/en/artwork/29...
• http://www.terracewires.co.uk/