Artists and identical twin brothers Doug and Mike Starn have installed their monumental sculptural work 5,000 Arms to Hold You in the Billy Rose Art Garden at the Israel Museum. The ninth and largest piece in the Starns’ Big Bambú series, the installation was constructed from 10,000 bamboo poles and 260,000 feet of climbing rope. A team of 25 rock climbers assembled the work over roughly 350 hours without following any formal architectural plans.
On their website, the Starns describe the project as a study of tension between order and chaos, aiming to mirror the shifting realities of nature, social structures, and culture. Visitors are encouraged to enter the dense bamboo structure and explore its interior pathways and interconnected mazes, experiencing the work from within.
The installation is on view through Oct. 1. After the public exhibition ends, a tower segment of the work will remain permanently in the garden as a lasting element of the museum’s landscape.
Constructed entirely from natural materials and assembled through collaborative labor rather than rigid design, 5,000 Arms to Hold You emphasizes process as much as product. The Starns’ approach highlights improvisation, adaptability, and the physical engagement of builders and visitors alike. As viewers move through the bamboo corridors they encounter shifting sightlines, framed views, and variable light patterns, all of which change with the time of day and the seasons.
By leaving behind the tower portion, the museum preserves a fragment of the full installation that continues to evolve visually and spatially within the garden. The remaining structure will offer visitors an enduring encounter with the Starns’ exploration of scale, materiality, and the interplay between human agency and organic forms.
Experience the work in person to fully appreciate the tactile complexity and the sense of communal creation that defines this latest chapter in the Starns’ ongoing Big Bambú series.