At Art Omi in Ghent, New York, Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO has made a group of earth columns that will gradually return to the ground. Borrowed Earth, a new commission for 2026, places the changing life of a material at the centre of an outdoor architectural work.

The installation uses rammed earth. This means compacting a damp earth mixture inside temporary moulds, then removing the moulds to reveal a solid form. Art Omi lists soil, sand and lime as the work’s materials and identifies the soil as locally sourced.

The photographs show a small gathering of tall, separate elements in a grassy clearing beside woodland. Their pale surfaces stand out against the trees. Narrow gaps allow views through the arrangement, while the changing angles of the columns create different edges as someone moves around them.

Without a roof or an enclosed room, the work asks visitors to notice what these few upright forms can do. They divide the open ground into smaller spaces. Some passages feel close and sheltered; other views open directly towards the surrounding park.

That relationship with the landscape will keep changing. Art Omi describes the columns as intended to erode under weather and seasonal exposure. Rather than treating this loss of material as damage to be hidden, the project makes it part of the work.

The result offers a useful architectural question: how should a structure meet the end of its life? Here, the answer begins with the ground beneath it. The installation makes that idea visible at the scale of the body, through mass, surface and the spaces between the columns.

Art Omi lists the installation from 5 September 2026 and will celebrate its opening on 24 October, from 2 to 5 pm. The event includes a musical response by Lita Vinueza at 3 pm.

Project information and photographs are from Art Omi. The photographs are by Olympia Shannon.