Bruce Bennett’s Alien Monoliths imagine an encounter between prehistoric people and extraterrestrial visitors, recorded through the visual language of the people witnessing it.
Bennett developed the series using imagery adapted from Jorge Enciso’s Design Motifs of Ancient Mexico, a collection of designs drawn from ancient Mexican seals and stamps. Within Bennett’s narrative, figures and symbols borrowed from these ancient sources become characters in a mythical encounter. Bennett referred to the stylized human observers as “monkey people,” while other forms represent mysterious visitors and events they are attempting to understand.
The Alien Monoliths series comprises six freestanding carved monoliths and a related carved stone bench.
One of the ancient symbols that fascinated Bennett has a rectangular form surrounding a central eye-like shape. For Bennett, the ambiguity of such imagery offered a starting point for imagining how an encounter with unknown technology might have been interpreted and recorded.
Bennett incorporated Quetzalcoatl and Cuauhtli, or eagle, motifs into the monoliths and rearranged these ancient visual forms to construct his own narrative across the carved stone surfaces.
In the accompanying video, Bennett explains the story behind the Alien Monoliths and the imagery that inspired the series. The video was recorded at the Spring Creek Marble Mansion in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Bennett completed seven engravings for the project.
The Alien Monoliths are available for acquisition. Please contact us for additional information.
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