Moulding the Arc installation uses circular plywood discs to map early human settlements

Approximately 1.5 million years ago, Homo erectus occupied caves, hunted in coordinated groups, and gathered around fire as a shared center of survival and social exchange. These early gestures of gathering, circling, and dwelling established a fundamental spatial condition that continues to inform human environments.

Across different geographies, similar archetypes emerged. Indigenous communities in Africa constructed dome-like shelters from branches, leaves, and bark, forming lightweight yet coherent structures that could be dismantled and transported. These early dwellings were not static objects, but adaptive systems shaped by movement, climate, and collective life.

At the core of these spatial practices lies a recurring geometry. The circle appears as one of the earliest and most intuitive forms produced by the human hand. It is a shape that emerges instinctively, preceding intention or representation, suggesting an unconscious foundation for how space is organized and perceived.

The circle operates here as both symbol and structure. It marks the beginning of shared space, where individuals gather, interact, and form relationships. As a geometric condition, it resists hierarchy while enabling cohesion, allowing community to emerge through proximity rather than enclosure.

In this sense, the installation interprets the circle not as a fixed boundary, but as an indication. It suggests the presence of something yet to fully materialize, an early signal of collective life. This state of becoming carries both uncertainty and inevitability, reflecting the fragile yet persistent formation of human societies.

The work is composed of circular discs, each measuring 1,200 millimetres in diameter, arranged across the ground in a loose grid. These elements act as abstracted outlines of dwellings, evoking the dispersed yet interconnected fabric of an early settlement.

Each disc represents an individual unit while simultaneously contributing to a larger spatial order. The distances between them define relationships, suggesting pathways, proximities, and the emergence of communal structure. As viewers move through the installation, these relationships shift, gradually revealing a landscape of habitation.

The discs are fabricated from lauan laminated plywood, a material formed by layering multiple sheets into a unified whole. This construction method becomes a conceptual analogue for community itself. Just as individual layers combine to produce structural strength, collective human actions generate the resilience of society.

Material here is not neutral. It carries both physical and symbolic weight, embodying the idea that stability is achieved through accumulation, cooperation, and interdependence.

Each disc is subtly inclined by the presence of a stone, introducing variation within an otherwise systematic arrangement. These inclinations correspond to solar orientation, embedding the installation within a temporal and environmental framework.

Through this gesture, the work acknowledges that human life has always been conditioned by natural cycles. The position of the sun, the passage of time, and the rhythms of the environment continue to shape how settlements are formed and experienced.

Moulding the Arc does not reconstruct the past, but rather distills its spatial logic into a contemporary installation. By translating early human behaviors into abstract forms, it reveals how fundamental patterns of gathering, dwelling, and relating persist across time.

The project ultimately frames community as a dynamic condition, one that emerges through repetition, difference, and shared presence. As visitors navigate the field of discs, the installation becomes less an object to observe and more a system to inhabit, where the act of movement completes the formation of space.

Project Credit

Project name: INDICATION36
Location: Japan
Design: RID / @reiichiikedadesign
Year: 2025
Photographer: Yoshiro Masuda