RAFT adapted the living systems of Jeff Koons’s Split-Rocker for permanent installation at Glenstone Museum, a contemporary art museum in Potomac, Maryland. A towering sculpture composed of tens of thousands of flowering plants, the piece depicts two halves of toy rockers—one dinosaur (“dino”) and one pony—which fuse together as a single form.  These profiles are an imperfect match, their incongruity highlighted by a distinctive steel “split” that joins the contrasting yet complementary sides: dino is rendered in magenta, orange, and yellow, while pony blooms in purple, fuchsia, and white. 

A green roof and green wall all in one, the colossal planted sculpture required redesign of the planting scheme, growing medium, irrigation and drainage systems to mitigate the stresses that result from unconventional growing conditions and the challenges of the mid-Atlantic climate.

For a closer look, schedule a visit to Glenstone.