Powder Mountain’s beginner area just got an artistic upgrade. Last week, the Utah ski resort unveiled its new magic carpet lift in the Sundown terrain pod. What distinguishes this Sunkid magic carpet from other surface lifts is that it doubles as an art piece.
Designed by Paris-based American artists Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly, the visual experience of the rainbow shifts depending on light and weather conditions. They drew inspiration from artist Trisha Brown’s 1971 Roof Piece and Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels (1973-76).
This is just one of the numerous things that PowMow has added in recent months. Other recent additions have included a new temporary snowsports building, snowmaking, and a backcountry terrain pod for experts. Next season will see further changes, including new chairlifts, as Powder Mountain will be transitioning to become a semi-private ski resort.
For more information, check out Powder Mountain’s press release below.
Powder Mountain Unveils New Art Installation, Re-imagines the Magic Carpet
‘Relay (Powder Mountain)’ by artist duo Gerard & Kelly transforms the Sun Tunnel magic carpet canopy into a rainbow tunnel that young skiers travel through on their way up the hill
Eden, Utah (January 3, 2024) — Powder Mountain announced today the completion and unveiling of the new art installation Relay (Powder Mountain) by Paris-based American artists Gerard & Kelly. Located over the Sun Tunnel magic carpet by the ski school, Gerard & Kelly clad the ski carpet canopy with a rainbow pattern of spiraling colored light that beginning skiers are magically pulled through on their way up the hill. The experience of the work shifts with the overall light and weather conditions, heightening each rider’s awareness of their environment and creating a playful, uplifting, and inclusive start to their day.
Alex Zhang, Chief Marketing Officer at Powder Mountain, said, “Gerard & Kelly have brought such a dynamic artwork to the mountain giving new meaning to our ‘magic carpet.’ We couldn’t be happier to unveil this work for young skiers and hope the light play evokes a sense of awe as they begin to explore the mountain. Powder Mountain is embarking on a collaborative journey with world-renowned artists to bring art and nature together. Relay (Powder Mountain) was a perfect way to start that immersive experience.”
Artists Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly, said, “We were thrilled by the invitation to create Relay (Powder Mountain) for Powder Mountain. It is so rare to have an opportunity to think about an artwork integrated into the daily activity of a site like a ski mountain. This, plus working in the vicinity of some of the most important projects in the history of Land Art, made the experience unique and memorable. We hope that Relay (Powder Mountain) will be a delightful addition to the experience of visiting the mountain.”
Just as the environmental conditions change continuously, the view through Relay (Powder Mountain) will subtly and elegantly change with the angle of the sun. Relay (Powder Mountain) is calibrated to the sun, lighting up and refracting sunlight in the day and illuminated from the inside to glow at night. Relay (Powder Mountain) provides a sense of wonder, imagination, and transformation for young skiers who travel up through the surface lift.
About Relay:
Relay is an installation of tinted strips of vinyl customized to the dimensions and distribution of existing windows in a given space. Articulating the movement of light as it travels across the floor and walls, Relay transforms the space into a polychromatic sundial, a machine for keeping time. Each window is assigned a color, corresponding to the palette of monochromatic costumes worn by dancers in performances of Gerard & Kelly’s ongoing project Modern Living.
Relay references choreographer and artist Trisha Brown’s 1971 Roof Piece, where dancers each take their turns mimicking short movement sequences performed by another dancer on another rooftop some distance away. Imitation is a basic method of learning for children as well as dancers and a fundamental mode of communication—it is also through initiating movement that most people learn to ski. Relay’s installation on Powder Mountain is further informed by Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels (1973-76), a seminal work of land art created in the Great Basin Desert that uses giant concrete tubes to create a solar observatory, framing the sun as it rises and sets during the summer and winter solstices.
About Gerard & Kelly:
Paris-based American artists Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly have collaborated for nearly two decades on performance, film, installation, and public artwork. With a background in ballet, visual art, and literature, Gerard & Kelly apply conceptual strategies to art and dance. Their work touches on themes of memory, history, and identity, and they work with an extraordinarily diverse range of collaborators. Much of their work questions exclusion and bias in public and private space, and from the casting of their performances to formal strategies they employ, they aim to create radically inclusive works where everyone can find their place.
ABOUT Powder Mountain
With over 500 inches of annual snowfall and more than 8000 skiable acreage, Powder Mountain sits on some of North America’s premier terrain an hour north of Salt Lake City International Airport. Daily caps on lift tickets and yearly caps on season passes preserve a uniquely un-crowded resort experience. A suite of cat-skiing options provide further opportunities for skiers and boarders to experience untouched snow throughout the winter. In the summer months, the newly opened Powder Mountain Bike Park offers downhill mountain biking and a growing trail system for recreation on the mountain. In addition, an expanding family friendly network of trails—approaching 50 miles— features unrivaled views from 8000 feet elevation. For more information, visit PowderMountain.com.
Image Credits: Powder Mountain
