jorge rodríguez-gerada plants land art portrait on the national mall

jorge rodríguez-gerada plants land art portrait on the national mall
images by mark gulezian / national portrait gallery

for ‘out of many, one’ — the english translation of e pluribus unum — cuban american artist jorge rodríguez-gerada has amassed dozens of photographs of people taken in washington, D.C. to form a single composite portrait. the land art is set temporarily on the national mall — covering a surface of 6 acres — and is viewable from the newly reopened washington monument, as an interactive walk-through experience and via satellite. approximately 2,000 tons of sand, 800 tons of soil, 10,000 wooden pegs and 8 miles of string comprise the monumental installation, with the sand and dirt tilled back into the soil the national mall, following its temporary exhibition.

once the drawing of the portrait was completed, rodríguez-gerada translated it into a digital format. each line has been drawn out using high-precision satellite navigation receivers on the ground, and created using different colors of dirt and sand based on these illustrations.

2,000 tons of sand, 800 tons of soil, 10,000 wooden pegs and 8 miles of string comprise the monumental installation

viewable from the newly reopened washington monument

each line has been drawn out using high-precision satellite navigation receivers on the ground

the portrait reflects the unique makeup of the national mall’s 29 million annual visitors

forming the face: eyes are drawn into the sand with lines of dirt

sand and dirt will be tilled back into the soil during the restoration on the national mall