Metal usually blocks the view. In Morocco‘s Agafay Desert, French artist Vincent Leroy has built a molecular cloud wireframe installation that lets the landscape show through it.
The work is called Molecular Cloud Wireframe. It is a kinetic installation that traces a set of intersecting spheres with curved metal ribs. The gaps between the ribs matter as much as the metal, so the surrounding terrain becomes part of the composition.
A frame that leaves room for the desert
Art placed in a dramatic landscape, such as agafay desert art, can easily compete with it. Leroy’s open structure avoids that problem. The eye follows the curved ribs, then moves outward to the surrounding desert terrain.
Leroy’s moving forms also respond to their surroundings, and his earlier work in Bali shows the same instinct. Vincent Leroy’s Kinetic Sculptures in Munduk pairs his motion with a striking landscape.
The title of this work suggests a computer model drawn before its surfaces are added. That reading suits the piece because its construction stays visible. Viewers see the lines that suggest a weather system, not a copy of one, and their own perception fills in the rest.
Light changes the reading
According to Designboom‘s description of the project, direct daylight brings out the depth of the overlapping spheres. Each volume reads as a separate form.
At dusk, contrast against the sky increases, and the structure flattens into an outline. The same object moves from solid geometry to drawn line within a single day.
Designboom also compares the lattice to a moucharabieh, the traditional screen that filters sightlines in Arab and Islamic buildings. As a viewer walks, the desert splits into fragments through the ribs. The sculpture itself is described as in constant motion, so the view keeps shifting.
Movement and intent behind the molecular cloud wireframe installation
Leroy studied industrial design in Paris, and he began making kinetic works during those studies. His practice has since spanned sculpture, installation and collaboration. Movement remains at the center of most of it.
For the Coachella installation in the same Molecular Cloud series, Leroy described slowing the movement on purpose to encourage a more contemplative experience. That was his stated aim for that work. The sources do not say he applies the same approach to this piece.
Leroy has also said that technology is not an end in itself. He describes it as a tool that “serves form, movement, emotion, and poetry.” That standard fits kinetic art well. A complicated mechanism does not make a sculpture more compelling on its own. Movement has to clarify the form.
Installations set against open ground raise similar questions about scale and emptiness. Gregory Orekhov’s Black Square at Bonneville shows how a single form can reshape a vast salt flat.
This sculpture rewards close looking before any engineering explanation is needed. Its openness makes the setting part of the idea. Moved into a crowded exhibition hall, the piece would lose much of its character. In the desert, the gaps have somewhere to lead the eye, and the view beyond the metal stays worth the look.
H/T yankodesign.com
Frequently asked questions
Where is Vincent Leroy‘s Molecular Cloud Wireframe installation located?
The installation is located in Morocco’s Agafay Desert. Its open metal structure lets the surrounding desert landscape show through its ribs.
What kind of installation is Molecular Cloud Wireframe?
Molecular Cloud Wireframe is a kinetic installation that traces a set of intersecting spheres with curved metal ribs. The gaps between the ribs matter as much as the metal, so the surrounding terrain becomes part of the composition.
How does the sculpture look in daylight compared to dusk?
In direct daylight, the depth of the overlapping spheres comes out, and each volume reads as a separate form. At dusk, contrast against the sky increases and the structure flattens into an outline.
What does Leroy say technology’s role is in his kinetic art?
Leroy has said that technology is not an end in itself. He describes it as a tool that serves form, movement, emotion, and poetry.
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