So this was on Pinterest tonight:
It’s on 1st dibs now. It was created by Rina Banerjee. It’s just over 13 feet square by almost 19 feet high. It’s a whole room tent sculpture!
It was part of an exhibition about the intersection of India and the West, and of ancient heritages and modern-day creativity. Here’s an explanation from the Musée Guimet and a photo of it on display there:
The sculpture is titled “Take Me, Take Me, Take Me… To the Palace of Love.” It’s of Mughal design and clearly inspired by the Taj Mahal. The Hosfelt Gallery, where it is available for purchase, explains more of its background.
Can you guess what it’s made of? Reynolds plastic wrap, copper, steel, brass, semiprecious stones, Bakelite, Styrofoam, archival tape, feathers and wood. The chair is an antique Anglo-Indian Bombay dark wood chair. Here’s a closer inside view where you get a better sense of the materials. This was when it was on display at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass.:
Here at the Musée Guimet in Paris again, it’s beautiful in this setting:
Would you ever think you’d find Reynolds plastic wrap and Styrofoam among these antiquities? And that these materials could be so beautiful. Here, plastic looks as precious as anything made of marble and semiprecious stones, as the Taj Mahal is.