Sod Maze, Rhode Island

Artist Richard Fleischner made this earthwork in 1974, on the grounds of the Chateau-sur-Mer, one of the preserved mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. The piece is a low, circular maze, made of mounded earth, about 18 inches high and covered in the same grass as the lawn of the mansion. The diameter of the maze is 142 feet. It was commissioned as part of the "Monumenta" exhibition of outdoor sculpture, and is now part of the collection of the Preservation Society of Newport County, which operates many of the mansions as well.