‘Release’ is a monumental sculpture by the South African artist Marco Cianfanelli. It was created and established in 2012. It is positioned on KwaZulu Natal Midlands, South Africa and is composed of 50 steel columns representing the 50 years since Nelson Mandela’s capture.[1] It is interesting as depending on where you stand beside the sculpture, it alters the view of the sculpture. Ultimately, if the viewer stands in a precise location, the steel columns form a portrait of the former president. The steel columns representing the prison bars Mandela was incarcerated behind, but in this sense it the bars are much freer and more liberal where the sculpture is situated in the open environment.
Viewers will walk down a path, before arriving at the sculpture, the image becoming clearer as moving closer. Upon viewing the sculpture, the portrait of the man faces west, towards the setting sun. Behind the sculpture, a plaque commemorates the location where Mandela was arrested. The illusion of this sculpture uses place and location to make it become interactive with its surroundings as it situated on historical ground the place is tied to a political stance.
- com. 2012. Nelson Mandela Monument by Marco Cianfanelli | Inspiration Grid. [online] Available at: <https://theinspirationgrid.com/nelson-mandela-monument-by-marco-cianfanelli/> [Accessed 2 March 2021].