CAPPADOCIA.- Australian artist Andrew Rogers announced the completion of the world’s largest basalt arch. Inscribed with a single word, MEMORY, “for without memory we are nothing”, the arch is 64ft high, constructed with solid basalt columns, each weighing in excess of 84 tons. The largest such basalt structure in the world, the arch completes the structure titled A Day on Earth and is located at the end of a colonnade of 30ft high basalt columns, each inscribed with 22 virtues. “A Day on Earth” is about the fragility of life and society and values inscribed on each column are imbued with meaning and a deep yearning of every person- liberty, justice, integrity, truth, respect, peace, freedom, quiet, hope, optimism, history, heritage, tolerance, beauty, joy, rights, love, responsibilities, faith, compassion, goodness, kindness. A Day on Earth is surrounded by 11 other structures, each part of Rogers’ “Time and Space” project, situated along a 1.5 mile long area in Cappadocia, Turkey.

“Time and Space” is the largest contemporary land art park on Earth, a series of twelve major structures. The lines of these structures measure approximately 7 kilometers (4 miles) in length and comprise more than 10,700 tons of stone. These structures are best viewed from above such as from a hot air balloon. The structures that lie furthest apart are separated by a distance of 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles).

Unique is an intent of this undertaking to have these connected drawings on the earth photographed by specifically commissioned satellites from a distance of 450 kilometers (280 miles) above the Earth revealing the structures as specks in space and a moment in time. Rogers’ “Rythms of Life” project, of which “Time and Space” is but one part, is the largest contemporary land art undertaking in the world, forming a chain of stone sculptures, or geoglphs, around the globe – 14 sites- in disparate exotic locations (from below sea level and up to altitudes of 4,300 m/ 14,107 ft). Up to three geoglyphs (ranging in size up to 40,000 sq m/ 430,560 sq ft) are located in each site. These monumental geoglyphs have been constructed in 13 countries since 1998; Israel, Chile, Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Iceland, China, India, Turkey, Nepal, Slovakia, the USA, Kenya and Antarctica which form a chain of 14 sites created around the world. Outside the City of Melbourne, in Geelong, a “Rythms of Life” site was commissioned in association with the Commonwealth Games 2006. In China the “Rythms of Life” walls stretch 2.1 km/ 1.3 miles.

To date, the project has involved over 6,700 people on seven continents (550 in Bolivia, 852 in Sri Lanka, 1,000 in China and India, 450 in Nepal and 1,240 in Kenya).

Says Rogers of “Time and Space”: “We perceive our existence in space and time; we are here now and life is current but in this world where technology is constantly advancing, human nature is not. It is often the values of the past that are most relevant today. Geoglyphs can be contemplated from two points of view- the mythological subject and that of the beautifully constructed gigantic form which requires a concentration of great ingenuity to bring into being a form from which springs new life. We are carried over great time and space from ancient cultures and civilizations. It is an exploration of meanings and powers from the past and their meaning for the future. From an artifact of an ancient culture that has meanings and powers from the past, through to the unspoilt vistas that has meaning for the future. These structures invite the viewer to search amongst these twelve gigantic forms which create their own dimensions and find themselves in a special place that has been created."