Institute of Contemporary Art Miami ICA Miami

The newly commissioned sculpture Unspecified Promise (2017) by artist duo Allora & Calzadilla is a contemporary interpretation of the granite monument that reflects on the political and technological issues of our time.

Inspired by both a general sense of loss and hope that is personal to the artists, the work explores how the United States’ policies towards the Hispanic Caribbean Islands of Puerto Rico and Cuba have impacted the social, economic, and political realities in the region and for members of its diaspora, many of whom reside in Miami. The work’s more than thirty tons of black granite forms an incomplete symmetry with half of a construction loader. The mirror-like finish on the stone’s polished side reflects the missing half of the loader, creating the illusion of a whole. Continuing the artists’ sublime and surreal treatments of the massive machines that power our lives, industries, and militaries, the sculpture invokes a complex social matrix.

Allora & Calzadilla are internationally recognized for their radical approach to form. Jennifer Allora (b. 1974, Philadelphia) and Guillermo Calzadilla (b. 1971, Havana) began their artistic collaboration in 1995 and have produced an expansive and interdisciplinary body of work involving sculpture, video, sound work, performance, and social interventions that focus on the regional concerns of their often site-specific installations. Their work has been featured in solo and group shows internationally, including Dia Art Foundation (2015); the Venice Biennale (2015, 2005); Documenta 13, Kassel, Germany (2012); the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2009); and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2008). The artists represented the United States in the 2011 Venice Biennial.