Alicja Kwade’s Solid Sky comprises a nearly 22.000 kilogram polished spherical stone, suspended 15 metersfrom the lobby‘s ceiling, dangling on 10 stainless steel chains. The piece, located in the lobby of a skyscraper at 550 Madison, is made from a rare quartzite called Azul do Macaúbas, quarried in Brazil, and is estimated to be 1.2 billion years old.
It is, in name and presence, a piece of sky brought down to ground level, at the same time evoking the feeling of seeing the Earth itself suspended overhead, the swirls of the stone reminiscent of aerial photography over the ocean. The bottom of Solid Sky hangs only 3 meters above the lobby floor, putting it just out of arm’s reach but close enough to create a very tangible (and somewhat nerve-wracking) presence.
