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“Lapidarium”, cast stone sculptures made from a demolished building, 2019–2021.
“Lapidarium”, cast stone sculptures made from a demolished building, 2019–2021.
“Lapidarium”, cast stone sculptures made from a demolished building, 2019–2021.
“Lapidarium”, cast stone sculptures made from a demolished building, 2019–2021.
“Lapidarium”, cast stone sculptures made from a demolished building, 2019–2021.
“Lapidarium”, cast stone sculptures made from a demolished building, 2019–2021.
“Lapidarium”, cast stone sculptures made from a demolished building, 2019–2021.
“Lapidarium”, cast stone sculptures made from a demolished building, 2019–2021.
“Lapidarium”, cast stone sculptures made from a demolished building, 2019–2021.
“Lapidarium”, quarry landscape in Grisons, Switzerland.
“Lapidarium”, quarry landscape in Grisons, Switzerland.
"Lapidarium", process of col­lect­ing traces.
"Lapidarium", process of col­lect­ing traces.
“Lapidarium”, process, demolition of the old building.
“Lapidarium”, process, grinding down the remains of the old building.
“Lapidarium”, process, casting the sculptures in the studio using the ground-down remains of the old building.


LAPIDARIUM

Site-specific art project, cast stone sculptures, variable dimensions, 2019–2021.

"Lapidarium" is a site-specific art project developed in the Rhine Valley of Grisons, Switzerland, amid quarries and gravel works. It focuses on stone both as a material and as a culturally charged, myth-laden substance. The project traces the transformations of stone: from its geological formation in the mountains, through extraction in quarries and incorporation into buildings, to demolition, crushing, and reuse. This sequence is recorded in a series of sculptures conceived as material repositories of existing traces. Using an archaeological casting process with clay, plaster, and silicone rubber, traces of the stone’s transformation were taken from different sites: extraction marks in local quarries, traces of use in old buildings, and traces of demolition in recycling yards. These impressions served as molds for new stone sculptures, through which the material’s transformation was continued. The sculptures themselves were cast from the demolition material of an old house, which had been crushed and finely ground in two gravel-processing plants. In this way, each work combines the imprint of one stage in the stone’s history with material originating from another.

The work was commissioned by Hurst Song Architects, Zurich.