The Living Pyramid, a site-specific work by Agnes Denes, began its life cycle in the garden of the Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM) on 13 September, 2022, where it will continue to be on view throughout the spring and summer.
Sponsored by Sabancı Holding and with all communications sponsorship by Çimsa, the work consists of plants and flowers selected from the urban flora of Istanbul, determined by the amount of sun and shade falling on each of the pyramid’s façades.
First built in 2015 for the Socrates Sculpture Park in New York, then at Nordstadtpark in Kassel as part of documenta 14 in 2017, The Living Pyramid can be conceived of as a sculpture that has a natural life cycle. Consisting of wooden stepped terraces filled with four tons of earth, the pyramid curves nine metres into the sky. The terraces of the pyramid contain two thousand plants and flowers belonging to approximately six hundred species, selected meticulously with input from the artist. Having spent the autumn in Istanbul and now experiencing the winter season, the work has gone through various phases, with some of its plants sprouting and blooming while others have run to seed.
The Living Pyramid, Agnes Denes’ first work to be exhibited in Turkey, will continue its environmentally sensitive approach after its residence in the SSM garden is over, by inviting visitors to adopt its plants.
Agnes Denes’s Manifesto, written in 1969 and specially produced for this exhibition, is exhibited alongside the pyramid, and will become a part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Workshops for adults and children, conferences, and other events on the environment and ecology will continue to be held at the SSM in conjunction with the exhibition of The Living Pyramid in the garden.
