Kasey McMahon Reimagines The Thinker With Cable
Artist Kasey McMahon builds a life-size Thinker sculpture using a welded steel armature and hundreds of feet of CAT5 and CAT6 network cables.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Artist Kasey McMahon crafted a life-size Thinker sculpture from steel and cables
- The artwork incorporates hundreds of feet of hand-wrapped CAT5 and CAT6 cables
- Blue, gray, and white dominate the palette with accents of red strands
- The commissioned sculpture is currently installed in Austin, Texas
Artist Kasey McMahon has reinterpreted the classic contemplative figure for the networked age, manually constructing a life-size sculpture of The Thinker using steel and hundreds of feet of network cable, representing the physical infrastructure that carries modern data.
As a nod to Auguste Rodin's iconic statue, the artwork substitutes traditional bronze with the tangible infrastructure of our digital world. McMahon first began experimenting with network cable as a sculptural medium over ten years ago, driven by a desire to transform invisible digital backbones into physical objects.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
The Thinker marks the fourth life-size human sculpture in her ongoing series and her very first male figure. The creative process began with a welded steel armature defining the anatomy and seated posture. McMahon then meticulously wrapped and layered CAT5 and CAT6 network cables by hand until the body took physical form.
Using networking infrastructure as an artistic medium prompts a conceptual reflection on humanity's relationship with technology. By exposing the physical conduits that typically remain hidden behind walls, the artist externalizes the unseen digital arteries of contemporary society.
Rather than concealing the materials, the sculpture leaves connectors, printed labels, and individual wire lengths fully exposed. Blue, gray, and white tones dominate the figure, highlighted by accents of red. Fabricated in McMahon's Portland-area studio—a converted 120-year-old garage—the creation process combined metal welding with the time-intensive task of layering cables.
- Sculpture built upon a welded steel anatomical armature
- Hand-wrapped layers of CAT5 and CAT6 network cables
- Color palette features blue, gray, and white with red strands
- Privately commissioned and installed in Austin, Texas
While the pose remains instantly recognizable, the unconventional material shifts the overall narrative. The sculpture arrives during an intensely debated era surrounding artificial intelligence and technology, simply sitting and contemplating its surroundings. The piece was created via a private commission and now resides in Austin, Texas.
Source: designboom
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