While Thomas Sayre is a Raleigh-based artist and architect, he has constructed works of art all over the world. To create his art, Sayre uses earth and soil from the ground where his sculptures will eventually stand to form earth casts. The three giant rings in the NCMA Park, also known as Gyre, were constructed in 1999 and are one of the Museum’s most photographed artworks.
This PBS documentary introduces viewers to the magic of Thomas Sayre’s artistic vision and process.
Earth casting is an affordable way of making very big things that are very strong and permanent. But more important than that, it’s a way of working whereby human intention—what I want, what I engineer—is in balance with nature, in this case the geology of the ground, which pushes back and affects the work.
—Thomas Sayre
Gyre‘s resonance shifts and changes with the seasons:
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