Kasey McMahon Reimagines Rodin's Thinker in Steel and Network Cable
Kasey McMahon has crafted her first male life-size figure, a sculpture titled Thinker, using welded steel and CAT5/CAT6 network cables. This marks her fourth life-size creation. The process began with a steel armature, which she meticulously covered with cable, ensuring that connectors and markings remained visible. The artwork features a color palette of blue, gray, and white, accented with red strands. For over ten years, McMahon has transformed network cables into tangible representations of digital infrastructure. Created in her studio near Portland, the privately commissioned piece is now displayed in Austin, Texas. Photography credits go to Aaron Wessling and Kasey McMahon, with editing by Christina Vergopoulou.
Key facts
- Artist Kasey McMahon created a life-size Thinker sculpture from welded steel and hundreds of feet of CAT5 and CAT6 network cable.
- The work is the fourth life-size human figure in McMahon's ongoing body of work and the first male figure.
- Construction began with a welded steel armature that established the anatomy and seated posture, followed by hand-wrapping and layering of cable.
- The sculpture leaves connectors, printed markings, and individual cable lengths visible, with blue, gray, and white dominating and red strands punctuating.
- McMahon began working with network cable as a sculptural material more than a decade ago.
- The work was fabricated in McMahon's Portland-area studio, a converted 120-year-old garage.
- The sculpture was privately commissioned and is now installed in Austin, Texas.
- Studio photography is by Aaron Wessling of Single File Studio; process and installation photography is by Kasey McMahon.
Entities
Artists
- Kasey McMahon
- Auguste Rodin
- Aaron Wessling
- Christina Vergopoulou
Institutions
- Atypical Art
- Single File Studio
- designboom
Locations
- Portland
- United States
- Austin
- Texas