In a recently commissioned work by the Smithsonian, Cuban-born artist, #Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada has added a new face to Washington,
DC’s National Mall. The “facescape,” titled
“Out of Many, One” covers six acres of ground next to the Reflecting Pool,
where from the air, it can also be seen peeking out from under the Mall’s
trees.
Workers toiled for four weeks to create the piece, hauling
in over 800 tons of dirt and 2,000 tons of sand and gravel to compose the image.
They used high-accuracy GPS technology to map the piece onto the lawn and
placed 10,000 stakes and miles of twine to make the template.
The result is a handsome young man of ambiguous ethnicity, a
blend of white and black faces in a portrait that explores the question of
identity as well as Rodriguez-Gerada’s own experience growing up in the States
as a young Cuban-American. Crafted from 50 photos the artist took on DC’s streets
of young males ages 18-25, “Out of Many, One” is a reference to the Latin
phrase E Pluribus Unum, which is also the motto on the seal of the United
States.
The facescape is on view until the end of October, at which
time it will be plowed back into the earth. Walk through it at ground level, where it
feels a bit like a zen garden. To see the face in full, visit the west-facing
window of the Washington Monument, see it from the air (window seat on a flight
into Reagan National Airport.) or visit
it virtually at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgmNP_ieiEo
Posted by Carole Funger
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