WINDY
Credits
This is the first time that High Line Art and Audemars Piguet Contemporary have co-curated and jointly commissioned a public sculpture. Curators from High Line Art and Audemars Piguet Contemporary worked closely with Meriem Bennani and High Line Art experts to bring this ambitious work to life.
Moroccan-born, New York-based Meriem Bennani is best known for her video works that tell stories about human behavior and our experiences online and offline. Her work is rich in references to reality TV, cartoons, documentary films and social networking, often approached with humor and a touch of the absurd. Windy presents a new direction in Meriem Bennani's artistic practice, transposing her animated film practice into a kinetic sculpture reminiscent of the movement represented in her video works.
Breaking away from the codes of traditional static sculpture, Windy is a tornado in motion, driven by ten motors, whose rhythm of rotation will vary continuously. Standing 2.70 m high, the sculpture is made up of around 200 foam discs stacked one on top of the other. The tornado's backbone consists of electric bicycle motors connected to each section of foam layers. Each system has been programmed differently by the artist, so that all sections rotate at their own speeds and sequences, creating unique loops that never repeat. Windy is thus a reflection of Meriem Bennani's video practice: the temporal sequences of a multi-channel video installation where each screen runs on its own loop without being synchronized to the others.
Windy was designed to cope with all New York's seasons, thanks to discs made of very light, waterproof and UV-resistant foam, enabling the sculpture to rotate in rain or shine. The cutting of the foam was also meticulously managed to avoid waste during the manufacturing process.
Windy is more abstract than Meriem Bennani's previous works. Thanks to this commission, she was able to explore new creative horizons and expand her practice, while drawing on diverse sources of inspiration. The frenetic movement of the sculpture reproduces the experience of walking through the crowded streets of New York and the frequency of movement on the High Line, one of the city's most visited public parks. Windy is a poignant testament to New York's frenetic, intoxicating energy.
The collaboration between High Line Art and Audemars Piguet Contemporary highlights the common mission of both programs: to invite artists to create a new work that allows them to experiment and further develop their practice. Both High Line Art and Audemars Piguet Contemporary offer meaningful, sustainable and collaborative support to artists, giving them the opportunity to create a new work that would not otherwise have been possible.
Meriem Bennani presents her first public sculpture in New York
Credits
On 24th Street in New York, Moroccan artist Meriem Bennani is exhibiting her first sculpture "Windy" until May 2023, co-curated by High Line Art and Audemars Piguet Contemporary.
"Windy" is a whirling, tornado-like sculpture made of black foam and inspired by the artist's experience of living in New York. Standing 2.70 m high, it is made up of around 200 foam discs stacked one on top of the other. Bennani's project also marks the first time that High Line Art and Audemars Piguet Contemporary have co-organized and commissioned a public sculpture. Its curators worked closely with the Moroccan artist and High Line Art's team of expert fabricators to bring this ambitious work to life.
Moroccan-born, New York-based Meriem Bennani is best known for her video works that tell stories about human behavior and our experiences online and offline. Her work is rich in references to reality TV, cartoons, documentary films and social networking, often approached with humor and a touch of the absurd. Windy presents a new direction in Meriem Bennani's artistic practice, transposing her animated film practice into a kinetic sculpture reminiscent of the movement represented in her video works.