Gilded Sphere on Sticks is one of the 9 Putt Putt golf holes commissioned by Materials & Applications in Los Angeles.
This obstacle is a loose diagram of architectural ensemble: landscape + structural columns + ornamental capitals + an articulated object with varying associations + functional use + irrational excess. In this putt putt obstacle contestants attempt to putt the ball over the hill, navigating it past some 'turf fat rolls' (which function as a ball return should one not make it over the hill) through a field of columns, and into the hole on the downslope. Barring a hole-in-1, any attempt will surely roll the ball down the back of the hill. The bent hill reveals itself as a mere imitation of a hill...a surface occurrence that other hills in the world find difficulty in achieving. The gilded sphere, perched on pink columns, is a spherical parody-monument textured with a rough materiality in honor of the original golf ball (a rock), yet is 'gilded' with a golden shine fit for the most serious of today's architectural forms. These terms of false/real juxtaposed representations are not unfamiliar to Los Angeles, a city indebted to visual and material culture that conflates time, experience, and material. But really, its about making that impossible shot...