Tara Donovan Transforms Plastic Cups Into A Geomorphic Sculpture

In her site-specific installations, Tara Donovan assembles man-made materials into large sculptural constructions. Originally from New York, the artist is renowned for her commitment to repetitive but transformative processes, bringing new life to objects recognised as mundane.

Here, ‘Untitled (Plastic Cups)’ is photographed at Jupiter Artland, a sculptural garden and art gallery close to Edinburgh. The piece is comprised of over 500,000 drinking cups, methodically prepared in a formula of varying stacked heights, presenting the appearance of flowing water or a cloud formation as viewed from above. Donovan’s repetitive assembly of a singular mass-produced material into a new visceral form questions our perceptions of its transience. An easily disregarded commonplace item now presents itself in a geomorphic arena. Through this, Donovan considers the beauty in everyday objects, but also the permanence of such materials in our world.