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ST. GEORGE — An echo of Southern Utah is ringing through European art galleries, where a replica of a geological wonder that mirrors both the appearance and scientific foundation of a Utah national monument is displayed.
What looks like a random scattering of rocks on the floor of a gallery in France is actually far from random – it's a painstakingly-crafted replica of an area inside the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, created with the collaboration of a geologist from the University of Utah.
In an email to St. George News, Paul Gabrielsen, a research and communication specialist at the University of Utah, said the exhibit, called "Here and Elsewhere," used fired clay rocks to represent dark spherical concretions, also called Moqui marbles, which are formed as iron-rich water percolates through sandstone. With color and texture like avocado, they erode out of the sandstone, collecting like pebbles in naturally-sculpted patterns.
"If it seems unusual to draw a connection between a European contemporary art museum with the wilderness of Utah, that's part of the point of the exhibit," Gabrielsen said in the email.
If it seems unusual to draw a connection between a European contemporary art museum with the wilderness of Utah, that's part of the point of the exhibit.
–Paul Gabrielsen, University of Utah
Gabrielsen said the artist Irene Kopelman was inspired by the connection between geological features found by both robotic explorers on Mars and those studied by The University of Utah professor, Marjorie Chan, on Earth. And this opportunity allowed Chan to learn about a far distant place by studying something close to home.
