Earlier this month, a monumental, metallic spiral appeared on the High Line to coincide with New York Fashion Week, temporarily transforming the familiar elevated landscape of Manhattan’s West Side into an immersive gallery of contemporary public art. The elevated, art-filled public park stretches from Gansevoort Street, near the Whitney Museum of American Art, all the way to 34th Street near Hudson Yards, providing a unique urban corridor where contemporary sculpture frequently interacts with the dense architecture of the city.
Commissioned by Bulgari as part of its Serpenti Infinito series—an ongoing initiative that celebrates the luxury house’s famous Serpenti collection through large-scale artistic partnerships—the temporary installation invited thousands of visitors to walk directly through an enormous, gleaming coil. Titled “auroBOROS: Urban Memory and Collective Dream,” the striking structure offered an unexpected intersection of high fashion, sculpture, and everyday urban transit during one of the city’s busiest and most visible cultural weeks.
The brainchildren behind this massive architectural intervention are artists Marco Canevacci and Yena Young, who lead the Berlin-based collaborative studio Plastique Fantastique. Known for creating ephemeral, pneumatic structures that temporarily alter urban environments, the duo designed “auroBOROS” to spend nearly two weeks wedged beneath a raised building along the High Line.
The title of the piece draws direct inspiration from the ancient ouroboros motif, a powerful cultural and mythological symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. Traditionally, the ouroboros serves as a profound metaphor for the continuous cycles of life, death, rebirth, and eternal return. For this specific installation, the theme functioned as a clever nod to Bulgari’s iconic snake-themed jewelry line, which has featured serpent motifs since the mid-20th century. Furthermore, the physical placement of the sculpture added a playful yet dramatic tension to the piece. Wedged tightly beneath the overhead structure of the building, the golden inflatable coil appeared to actively support the heavy concrete and steel framework above it, creating a visual dialogue between soft, temporary pneumatic art and permanent, rigid urban architecture.
This exhibition marks a significant milestone for the artists, as “auroBOROS” represents the first time Plastique Fantastique has exhibited a public installation in the United States. While the studio has established a prominent reputation across Europe for its site-specific inflatable architectures that challenge perceptions of public space, bringing their work to Manhattan introduced their distinct aesthetic to a massive international audience drawn to New York City for Fashion Week.
The themes explored in New York build upon a broader trajectory of architectural interventions by the studio. Earlier installations along a similar conceptual and material theme include iterations of an architectonic gold loop titled “RINGdeLUXE.” In past exhibitions, such as a notable project realized in 2023, similar monumental gold rings have been installed to physically encompass public bridges. In those contexts, the gleaming circular structures transformed everyday transit routes into spaces resembling cosmic portals, prompting pedestrians and commuters to reconsider the familiar infrastructure of their cities through the lens of speculative design and fantasy.
By utilizing pneumatic materials—structures shaped by air and lightweight membranes—Plastique Fantastique continually investigates the boundaries between art, architecture, and the public realm. Their temporary interventions are designed to be fleeting, leaving no permanent mark on the physical environment while lingering vividly in the collective memory of those who interact with them.
The engagement with “auroBOROS” on the High Line followed this philosophy closely. Over its nearly two-week residency, the golden coil became a focal point for pedestrians, art enthusiasts, and fashion week attendees alike. Visitors were able to step inside the installation, experiencing an entirely different spatial atmosphere framed by reflective metallic surfaces and filtered daylight. As the installation concluded its run and was subsequently deflated and removed from the West Side park, it left behind the enduring impression of how transient art can momentarily disrupt and re-enchant the rigid grids of the modern metropolis. Those interested in following the studio’s ongoing projects, future international exhibitions, and further documentation of their architectonic loops can view additional updates and visual archives through Plastique Fantastique’s official social media channels, including their dedicated Instagram presence.
