Starting December 15, 2017, the inaugural National Gallery of Victoria triennial will open its doors to the job of over 100 creatives in 32 countries. Among the artists, designers, technologists, architects, animators, and beyond is Australian hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck, who is presenting his biggest ever work thus far. ‘Volume’ is the installation of 100 human skull forms piled up on the gallery floor, each which engage with the architecture of the site.

A somber analysis of mortality, along with an expansion of Mueck’s hyperrealistic sculptural practice, ‘mass’ stems from the biological structure of the skull, also considered by him as extraordinary aspects of humankind. The installment brings to mind the mast stays in the catacombs of Paris, an imposing wall of human heads that contrasts with a contemporary and strange sense of impermanence and eternality. In ‘mass,’ Mueck celebrates the kind that links all humanity, and pays homage to a symbol that has stood within the art of basically all cultures and religion. Surrounded by skulls covering almost every surface of their walls, visitors are reminded of the transience of life.

The national gallery of victoria triennial runs from today through April 18, 2018, and can be a free exhibition.