“auruBOROS” by Plastique Fantastique. (Photo: Swan Park)
Visitors to New York City’s High Line were met with a surprise during New York Fashion Week 2026. There, they came across auruBOROS: Urban Memory and Collective Dream, a sculpture made of two intertwined gold coils that wove through the elevated park. Created by Plastique Fantastique, the metallic surface gleamed in the sunlight, allowing passersby to catch glimpses of themselves and others in its warm reflection as they walked around and beneath the large spirals.
The title combines aurum, the Latin word for gold, with ouroboros, the serpent consuming its own tail—an ancient image often associated with cycles of death and rebirth. Its placement on the High Line gave the sculpture a unique opportunity to blend into and out of its surroundings, reflecting buildings, greenery, people, clouds, and the city’s changing light.
The golden serpent also connected fittingly to New York Fashion Week. Bulgari commissioned the sculpture as the jewelry house’s first public art commission in the United States and the latest chapter in its Serpenti Infinito art series, inspired by the serpent motif that has long appeared in Bulgari’s designs. The installation was unveiled during Fashion Week alongside a celebration attended by Anne Hathaway, Dua Lipa, Lisa of Blackpink, and other guests.
Despite looking like a massive piece of gold jewelry, auruBOROS was made from surprisingly light, temporary materials. Plastique Fantastique’s main medium is air, and the sculpture was held up entirely by it, using only golden mirrored thermoplastic polyurethane and ventilators. At around 98 feet long, the enormous structure could therefore appear monumental while weighing almost nothing.
Working with air is nothing new for Plastique Fantastique. Artists Marco Canevacci and Yena Young have spent years creating inflatable installations that temporarily transform public spaces, often playing with the relationship between architecture, people, and their surroundings. With auruBOROS, that history feels especially fitting, since something that looks so solid and permanent is actually incredibly fragile.
The sculpture’s transitory nature was also meant to be part of the experience. Just as a passing breath shared between strangers is temporary, so was the air that filled auruBOROS. Plastique Fantastique connects this idea to the Greek word pneuma, which can mean breath, air, and spirit.
“auruBOROS began with the ancient image of the ouroboros, but instead of keeping the serpent as a closed circle, we opened it and allowed it to enter the city,” Plastique Fantastique said of the sculpture. “Its gold, reflective body moves through the High Line, absorbing buildings, vegetation, people, weather, light and sky into its surface. We were interested in that contradiction: something that looks precious and permanent but is actually light, fragile, and transient,” the artists continued. “For us, the work ultimately becomes less about the object itself and more about the temporary experience it creates, and the memory that remains after it disappears.”
As Plastique Fantastique intended, the sculpture was only on view through September 20, 2026, but the memories those who encountered it carry stay longer.
A new sculpture by Plastique Fantastique surprised visitors during New York City Fashion Week.
“auruBOROS” by Plastique Fantastique. (Photo: Swan Park)
“auruBOROS” by Plastique Fantastique. (Photo: Swan Park)
The sculpture, titled auruBOROS: Urban Memory and Collective Design, evokes the snake eating its own tail, while the gold brings to mind the luxury of jewelry brand Bulgari.
“auruBOROS” by Plastique Fantastique. Photo: Swan Park.
“auruBOROS” by Plastique Fantastique. (Photo: Swan Park)
Made using only air and temporary materials, auruBOROS brought people together for the fleeting experience of sharing a breath with a passing stranger.
“auruBOROS” by Plastique Fantastique. (Photo: Swan Park)
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My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Plastique Fantastique.
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