Dream City 1996

Curator: Anthony Caro's "Dream City," created in 1996, strikes me as almost post-industrial. I see worn, rusted metal sculpted into geometric shapes. What's your first impression? Editor: It feels ancient and futuristic at the same time, a rusty spaceship half-buried in the earth. There's a beautiful, weathered quality. Curator: That’s spot on. Caro often worked with salvaged industrial materials. Look closely—notice how he's arranged these components? Vertical planes, cylindrical volumes… It's architectural, but on a human scale. The composition focuses on stark geometrical shapes, giving a minimalist aesthetic. Editor: Indeed, the relationships between the planes are dynamic and create distinct shadows. It draws your eye around and through the structure; how much does the site impact the perception? I ask because as site-specific work it responds intimately to its environment, something a conventional piece wouldn’t achieve so readily. Curator: Crucially. Being outdoors changes how you experience its scale, the play of light, and how it interacts with weather. In the right conditions, it really can become this meditative zone that prompts internal reflection. And with its visible wear from nature’s constant abrasion… this gives a sense of the transient nature of both man and structures. Editor: Right. "Dream City" really does feel like a dialogue between the human urge to build and nature's inevitable reclaiming. So, in terms of materiality and geometric vocabulary, what historical context shaped Caro? Curator: Well, he pushed against the traditional plinth, favoring a more direct encounter. I’d say Caro’s work responded to movements like constructivism. While, like modernism, he valued reductive form, here, in ‘Dream City’ we have this palpable aging process, that breaks with conventional modernists obsession with perfection. Editor: Ultimately, I see Caro constructing a stage, something inviting reverie but not quite offering resolution; more an opening than a door. Curator: Precisely! This artwork's heart is about the questions, not simple answers. It urges you to pause. Editor: I find my earlier impression deepening with the notion that, somehow, even something rusty and still can pulse with future promise.