Antony Gormley Elemental

A monumental installation by Antony Gormley will be unveiled in South Korea in spring 2027 at Wonpyeong Beach on Bigeum Island in Sinan County, South Jeolla province. 

Elemental is Gormley’s most ambitious work to date. Constructed from stainless steel space frames, the sculpture lies directly on the beach’s tidal flats, stretching 110 metres long and 25 metres high. The work’s geometry is derived from the proportions of the human body at the scale of the terrain, and as such, is designed to be approached on foot, walked around and moved through.

Gormley has described the work as evoking by turns a mountain range, a cluster of crystals and an abstract human body lying on the earth, and relates its silhouette to the low-lying islands visible from the beach. 'The body is material; body and earth are a continuum,' the artist writes in his statement on the work. 'Here is a body as a mountain. Here is a body drawn as a building.'

The sculpture is exposed to the tide twice daily, with the sea partially covering the work at high tide. Marine growth, including barnacles and mussels, is expected to accumulate on the lower part of the structure over time, registering the work as part of the wider environment.

'Bigeum Island is not just a place but a space where the unique ecosystem of the land and the way of life that have been connected to it for a long time still permeate. I was deeply moved by the harmonious way of life between the inhabitants and marine life that lives along the tides, and I wanted to honour the natural forests and flat beaches and create a place where human and non-human lives can coexist. I think of it as a framework for an experience that connects us to the environment.' — Antony Gormley