three thousand steel sheets stacked nine meters high shape gregory orekhov's land art

gregory orekhov’s reflective sculpture rises from a lake

With his latest creation, Talmud, artist Gregory Orekhov unveils a towering steel sculpture that rises nine meters into the sky. The land art project emerges from the surface of a lake enveloped in thickets of reeds as a stack of three thousand stainless steel sheets, shaping a relief on the its facets. Talmud draws its name from the sacred Jewish texts, however, Orekhov encourages a more metaphorical interpretation by posing a vertical line that encapsulates the teachings, knowledge, and experiences of humanity. The sculpture symbolically extends into infinity continuously accumulating new insights as long as human existence persists.

image by Konstantin Antipin

‘talmud’ encapsulates infinite knowledge and human experience

Gregory Orekhov’s Talmud is larger rendition of the original work showcased at Cosmoscow in 2022, revealing an illusion of book pages frozen within a slender, 9-meter-tall metal column. Mirroring its surroundings, it actively absorbs and reflects the engulfing landscape through polished mirror edges. The sculpture becomes a nuanced intersection of the man-made and the inherently existent in the world. Talmud gazes skyward, echoing the upward inclination of Brancusi’s Infinite Column, imbuing this aspiration with added significance through its title. The spiritual path unfolds through the language of sculpture, as the artist translates identical pages from a short-lived and unstable state into a durable material.

Gregory Orekhov unveils a towering sculpture | image by Nikita Subbotin

Talmud rises 9 meters into the sky | image by Nikita Subbotin

it absorbs and reflects the engulfing landscape through polished mirror edges | image by Nikita Subbotin

comprising three thousand stacked stainless steel sheets | image by Nikita Subbotin

Talmud draws its name from the sacred Jewish texts | image by Nikita Subbotin

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image by Nikita Subbotin

image by Nikita Subbotin

image by Nikita Subbotin

project info:

name: Talmud
designer: Gregory Orekhov | gregory.orekhov

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: ravail khan | designboom