TOWERS OF BABEL

CAPITALISM IN THE PUBLIC REALM – Towers of Babel – A series of plexiglass sculptures by Anne Katrine Senstad

The name Babylon derives from the Akkadian word Babilu: Gate of God.

Babel no 20, 2023 by Anne Katrine Senstad. As part of the exhibition A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall curated by Lara Pan, Jamestown Art Center, RI..

The sequence of Babel sculptures 01 – 014 are unique acrylic sculpture compositions referencing the mythological Tower of Babel. In biblical terms the tower represents the dispersing, disenfranchisement and separation of peoples through language and displacement of communication, where the human race is divided as punishment for their wickedness.

In ancient cultures building engineering of structures for home dwelling overlap, interweave, and represent unity and understanding – a tribal system of organization. In the construction of the individual towers, we see colors intersect, reflecting each plane merging into new colors, creating the inner workings of the kaleidioscope. We are reminded of how we as individuals are all part of a grand system, interlinked and equal in unity, referencing the basis of civil rights, communal and social infrastructure, and social ethics found in the humanities.

The Constructivist/Arte-Concrete inspired sculptures are seen as triangles from above, yet appear as square towers from front view. As individual sculptures, the “towers” exist as individual Babels, signifying the individual totem. As a sculptural installation, sets of pairs or quads , signifies the connotations, expanding to the idea of connectivity as in coupling or the nuclear family, the comfort of even numerals.

Towers of Babel, 2020 by Anne Katrine Senstad. Plexiglass, mirrors, brass door hinges, brass bolts and screws.

Tower of Babel no 08, 2021 by Anne Katrine Senstad. Plexiglass, mirrors, brass door hinges, brass bolts and screws.

Tower of Babel no 05, 2020 by Anne Katrine Senstad. Plexiglass, mirrors, brass door hinges, brass bolts and screws.