Outsourced Art

Interesting article in Wired on MDM, a prop shop artists employ to turn their ideas into reality. I had no idea artists might outsource to such a high degree! I guess it seems obvious in hindsight, when you consider pieces that require heavy-duty engineering and safety considerations like Jericho:

Sometimes Schofield gets assignments that seem to defy the laws of physics. Two years ago, artist Anselm Kiefer set out to erect Jericho in the courtyard of the Royal Academy. A pair of towers would be built from concrete slabs balanced on top of each other with no supports or fasteners—and the public would be allowed to step inside the chambers at the base of each stack. Schofield worked with a structural engineer to calculate the ideal weight and pitch of the slabs, then arranged motion-sensitive lasers around the perimeter of the courtyard to detect any movement that might presage a collapse.