Urban Decay

Michael Bennett

The words of Michael Bennett, Super Bowl champion, architect, and artist on his World Wide Walls sculpture:

Urban Decay demystifies humanity’s worship of waste, instead likening the layers of waste we accumulate as the memory of each generation’s contribution to the complexities of Earth’s evolving landscapes. The work explores the layers of Earth’s surfaces and the human proliferation of those layers. Examining the duality and materiality of organic and seemingly inorganic objects the work utilizes space, form, scale, and texture to form a sculptural installation able to foster congregation.

The mass of the sculpture signals a container for introspective clarity allowing reflection of our collective accumulation. The sculpture becomes a revelation to the viewer identifying the complexity of what we leave behind and Earth’s dexterity in keeping us together.

The sculpture embraces unconventionality urging thoughtful practice of humanities collective responsibilities; we should be forward-thinking, utilitarian-minded, and intentional in our actions as we redeem our collective inaction of nurturing our planet with itself. Viewers are invited to excavate meaning through urgent response to the social and ecological and environmental context of our time.”