American artist Robert Wechsler has realized a series of sculptural cubes made from thousands of pennies titled “The Mendicant“. Cubes achieved by notching and joining pennies in perfect orientation to one another. Joined at perpendicular angles, the coins create a lattice structure allowing tunnel like passages of light from certain angles. As one moves around them, the cubes seem to fluctuate from material to ethereal. The number of pennies increases exponentially with the size of the cube. Pictured here are three cubes differentiated with subtitles indicating the exact quantity used.
The Mendicant 26,982 includes pennies from all years featuring the Lincoln Memorial (1959-2008). The Mendicant 3,672 includes Lincoln Memorial pennies prior to the shift from copper to zinc production (1959-1982). The Mendicant 540 was built from pennies retrieved from a wishing well. The colorful patina of these coins is the result of exposure to the water and chemicals over time.
The series of sculptures can be seen until December 15th at the International Art Objects Galleries in Culver City, CA. +info
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images courtesy of Robert Wechsler
