I often read Michael Jones McKean’s practice through the lens of land art, a movement that produced many works that read as ruins from the future. McKean’s the shade, a floor-based sculpture from 2015, works similarly, while managing to advance that movement. Particularly striking is the sculpture's rounded, monochrome surface, which causes it to read like a computer’s 3D rendering. There’s something of Plato’s Forms in that, but cast in the digital age. It is timeless, maybe even matter-less, but always right in front of us.
Michael Jones McKean
the shade, 2015
diesel generator, stainless steel, marine resin, urethane, meta-anthracite, Matthews photo stand and light cutter, dyed felt