zelehoski and morales depict a fossilized dinosaur from a deconstructed backhoe in new york

in partnership with times square arts and SPRING/BREAK art show, artist michael zelehoski and curator ché morales, present ‘the rapture’ – a monumental sculpture situated in new york’s times square. the duo have salvaged a construction backhoe, then deconstructed and reassembled it in the busy broadway plaza to appear as the image of a fossilized dinosaur. on view until march 31st, 2019, the project intends to question humanity’s significance on earth by using an item of technology used to build our civilization and making it appear ‘extinct.’

images courtesy of abstrkt

‘the rapture’ forms an ambiguous image in the middle of times square, as passers-by may question whether it is beast or machine, a relic of the past or a premonition of the future. the installation by zelehoski and morales intends to reflect on the future of our species while also commenting on issues such as capitalism and sustainability. the backhoe that has been used for the project spent much of the eighties working around manhattan before heading north, where it was ultimately abandoned, before being reclaimed for ‘the rapture.’

the artistic intervention by zelehoski remains largely faithful to the original machine but contorts it into a hyperextended posture, like a dinosaur in its death throes. this condition has been shown to occur naturally only in birds and placental mammals – like humans. it aims to serve as a reminder of all that we have in common with our prehistoric counterparts yet while they ruled the earth for hundreds of millions of years, we have brought it to the the brink of catastrophe in the geological blink of an eye.

project info:

project name: ‘the rapture‘

artist: michael zelehoski

curator: ché morales

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom