bomb cloud sculpture takes shape in soil, straw and water inside abandoned lisbon school

earth, straw, sand, water, and wood form The Weight of the Soil

The Weight of the Soil is a large-scale sculptural installation by Iranian-born, Brooklyn-based artists Saman & Sasan Oskouei, installed inside an abandoned school in Lisbon. The work gives physical form to the fleeting image of a bomb cloud, using adobe, soil, straw, sand, water, and wood to slow down a moment of destruction and give it material weight.

Constructed in situ, the sculpture uses a minimal wood structure covered with layers of adobe made from soil, sand, straw, and water. The earthen material was built up by hand into irregular, cloud-like masses, leaving the texture and character of the soil visible across the surface. Rather than depicting the explosion itself, the installation focuses on what follows: dust settling, material hardening, and the transformation of destruction into landscape.

the installation is constructed in situ inside abandoned school

The use of earth introduces a central contrast within the work by artists Saman & Sasan Oskouei. A material traditionally associated with shelter, home, and permanence is shaped into an image of destruction. The installation’s earthen construction also connects the bomb cloud to the physical ground, turning an image usually encountered for only a few seconds through photographs, videos, and screens into a lasting spatial presence.

The work occupies an abandoned school that had been unused for approximately 15 years. Its worn architecture, tiled walls, damaged ceiling, and traces of former use become part of the installation. A building associated with learning and the future provides the setting for a form associated with destruction and its aftermath.

As the dust settles and the adobe hardens, the bomb cloud becomes a landscape. The work considers how violence extends beyond the moment of impact, becoming embedded in memory, architecture, landscapes, and the ground itself.

project info:

name: The Weight of the Soil

artist: Oskouei Studio | @icyandsot

lead artists: Saman & Sasan Oskouei

location: abandoned school, Lisbon, Portugal

materials: adobe, soil, straw, wood

dimensions: 300 × 250 × 280 cm

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