Marta Minujín's Fallen Obelisk at the First Latin American Biennial

On 16 October 1978, Argentine artist Marta Minujín presented "Obelisco tumbado" (Fallen Obelisk) at the First Latin American Biennial in São Paulo, Brazil. The work is a horizontal obelisk of the exact same dimensions as the Obelisk in Buenos Aires' Plaza de la República. Constructed from wood, chipboard, and rope, it measures 67 meters long, 7 meters high at its base, tapering to 3.60 meters at the point. The public can view it from outside and enter through the base in groups of up to ten. Inside, a passage lit by black light features fluorescent panels that cast visitors' shadows. At the far end, two fluorescent chairs face two television sets and a Super 8 projector screening films and videos of the Buenos Aires Obelisk, including interviews, references to other obelisks, an interior ascent, and fictitious toppling scenes. After the 10-minute screening, visitors exit via a separate passage. Minujín described the central theme as transplanting a myth from one country to another, altering gravity by turning vertical into horizontal, and raising oblique awareness using a symbol of penetrating spirit and sunlight.