Antipodes (sculpture)
Encyclopedia
Antipodes is a public artwork by American
sculptor Jim Sanborn located outside of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
in Washington, DC, United States
.
.
" installation. The two texts refer to CIA and KGB
covert operations. The English side of the sculpture repeats the text seen on "Kryptos". The "Kryptos" code is in four parts, three have been solved. However, select differences do exist between the text seen on "Antipodes" versus "Kryptos" such as spacing, additional dots and letters.
The Cyrillic side has a large amount of text from another of Sanborn's pieces, "Cyrillic Projector
" which have since been solved as well as additional text which remains a mystery.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sculptor Jim Sanborn located outside of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
in Washington, DC, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Description
This sculpture consists of two copper curved pieces attached to a piece of petrified wood by steel bands. The "scrolls" have letters punched into them, one piece is in English and the other piece is "coded" in Cyrillic.Acquisition
The original "Antipodes" is a 6 foot high version of the Hirshhorn sculpture that was created in 1992 which was purchased by art collectors Gilbert and Ann Kinney. The small piece was displayed on the terrace of the Kinney home and upon moving the couple donated the piece to the Hirshhorn. In 1997 the Neuberger Museum of Art commissioned a large scale version of "Antipodes" for the Neuberger Biennial. After the Biennial, Sanborn traded the large piece for the smaller version to the Hirshhorn, hence it now residing outside the Washington based museum. The smaller version of "Antipodes" has since been sold to a private collector in California via L.A. LouverL.A. Louver
Located in Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA, L.A. Louver is an art gallery focusing on American and European contemporary art. The building that houses the gallery was designed by architect Frederick Fisher. The gallery is a member of the Art Dealers Association of America. The gallery...
.
Information
This sculpture was inspired by Sanborn's "KryptosKryptos
Kryptos is an encrypted sculpture by American artist Jim Sanborn located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia. Since its dedication on November 3, 1990, there has been much speculation about the meaning of the encrypted messages it bears...
" installation. The two texts refer to CIA and KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
covert operations. The English side of the sculpture repeats the text seen on "Kryptos". The "Kryptos" code is in four parts, three have been solved. However, select differences do exist between the text seen on "Antipodes" versus "Kryptos" such as spacing, additional dots and letters.
The Cyrillic side has a large amount of text from another of Sanborn's pieces, "Cyrillic Projector
Cyrillic Projector
The Cyrillic Projector is a sculpture created by American artist Jim Sanborn in the early 1990s, and was purchased by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1997...
" which have since been solved as well as additional text which remains a mystery.