There’s a new gallery art show in New York City dedicated to the strange and mysterious monolith craze, bringing back one of the more interesting topics of discussion at the end of 2020.
What’s going on?
The Kasmin Gallery in Manhattan, New York, is hosting the new “Between the Earth and Sky” group show, which features “monolith sculptures.”
- There are 22 sculptures in all — some newer, others older, according to The New York Times.
- The monoliths are made of stone, bronze, clay and brown glass.
The sculptures range from what historical to satirical. In some ways, the show displays mysterious designs using ancient clay. At other moments, the displays are comical — made of books or shirts or cubes.
- “Grounded in the earth, pointing upward, it hints at the world beyond our desks — something larger than ourselves and far more enduring. Celebrated megaliths like those at Stonehenge or Easter Island do not aim to plumb our interior lives or offer insight into suffering, instead capturing a generalized yearning for the majesty of the sky and stars,” according to The New York Times.
What is a monolith?
So what is a monolith? We should look at the definition. It is basically a geological structure consisting of one single stone, rock or slab of material. Monoliths are often shaped into a pillar for a monument, as I explained for the Deseret News.
Recently, monoliths have been popping up across the country. And the trend began in Utah. Back on Nov. 18, 2020, those on board a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter — who were helping Utah Division of Wildlife Resource with a task in the remote Utah wilderness — noticed a mysterious object in the middle of nowhere.
- “One of the biologists is the one who spotted it and we just happened to fly directly over the top of it,” said pilot Bret Hutchings, according to KSL-TV. “He was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around!’ And I was like, ‘what.’ And he’s like, ‘There’s this thing back there — we’ve got to go look at it!’
Such began a viral craze where monoliths popped up all around the country — from Utah to California, and Texas to Romania.
The origins of the monoliths were never fully explained.