falling steel hits wet concrete in beam drop by chris burden

chris burden’s beam drop at inhotim
image courtesy of instituto inhotim © eduardo eckenfels

a construction crane drops 100 locally sourced steel I-beams from a height of 45 meters into a 3 meter-deep wet concrete pit for chris burden’s ‘beam drop’ — an immersive, site-specific installation at inhotim, a contemporary art center and botanical garden in brazil. the random fall of the metal creates an abstract arrangement that results from both the artist’s control and by chance. the violent clangs that resonate from the metallic blows juxtapose the vast, serene natural environment of the massive art complex. in its aftermath, ‘beam drop’ displays severe, vertical pieces of hardware protruding from the earth, translating into a sculptural art piece that envelopes the viewer in the rigid framework of its medium. 

the video below documents the process of creating the sculpture ‘beam drop’ for inhotim, exposing the installation method of carefully raising each steel piece individually into the air by crane and then releasing them, allowing their free-fall into the wet concrete pit:

a view during installation as one of the beams is randomly dropped into the concrete pit
image courtesy of instituto inhotim ©  bruno magalhaes

 ‘not many artists have used steel. everyone is very careful because the material has so much potential for danger.‘
— chris burden

visitors to inhotim interact with the large-scale installation
image courtesy of instituto inhotim © eduardo eckenfels

massive pieces of hardware protrude from the earth’s surface
image courtesy of instituto inhotim © eduardo eckenfels

the metallic sculpture juxtaposes the serene natural environment of the art complex
image courtesy of instituto inhotim © eduardo eckenfels

looking up at the vertical arrangement of the steel I-beams
image courtesy of instituto inhotim © daniela paoliello