A Fold in the Field, 2013
Gibbs Farm, Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand
137,334 cubic yards earth-fill, covering 35,000 square yards
940’ x 380’ x 40’

Photography: David Hartley-Mitchell, courtesy Gibbs Farm

A Fold in the Field is Maya Lin’s largest and most ambitious earthwork to date. Lin’s five folds make dramatic new wave forms in a degraded pasture land on the site. Creating five undulation earthen waves in the field, Lin’s work responds to the existing site by introducing a systematic ordering of the terrain.

The work echoes the waves of the westerly weather that shape the coastline, whilst simultaneously creating a landscape that introduces an element of abstracted formality. The work is equally evocative of the slow, inevitable gravitational slide of the land down slopes and valleys towards the sea. By sculpting the earth and altering its surface appearance in this way, Lin’s work enables us to relate to the forces both within and upon the land.

A fold in the Field was originally conceptualized with a simple sheet of paper that Lin had rolled to create a repetitive folded form which she then translated to the site. As the title implies, the shape emanates from a desire to create simple folds in the perceived flat plain of the field.