cloud

cloud

permanent public art installation for a mixed use development, culver city, california
client: greystar, commissioned in conjunction with the culver city art in public places program

materials: mirror-polished stainless steel, fog system
size: 25’x13‘x14’
art consultant: beatrix barker & associates
structural engineer: brad w. smith
metal fabrication: magnum companies
fog system: mee industries
photos: merge
the art installation is part of a design for a public plaza / pocket park in a mixed use building complex at a busy intersection in downtown culver city.

the large sculpture was designed in response to the city’s desire to implement a water feature on the plaza. the goal was to create a water feature that is sensitive to southern california’s climate and water shortage, and maximizes the benefit of water to create a micro-climate in the park. if desired in response to drought conditions, the sculpture stands on its own without the water component.

in creating our design, we wanted to evoke the qualities of water in the sculpture itself. fascinated by the process of the water cycle – nothing is being added or deleted in the infinite movement of water on, above and below the surface of the earth – we used the figure of a möbius band as inspiration.

the sculpture is made of a twisted mirror-polished stainless band. the resulting shape is reminiscent of a raindrop. its perception changes dramatically according to the viewing angle. nozzles along the two narrow edges of the band intermittently emit fog, thus enveloping the sculpture in a cloud that is both surprising to the patrons of the park and cooling to their environment.

sky

sky

permanent light installation for the san francisco international airport, terminal 3, boarding area e, san francisco, ca
light programming in collaboration with morgan barnard
client: sfo, commissioned by the san francisco arts commission

materials: mirror-polished stainless steel, led lights, mineral paint
size: 27 spheres, dia. 2’ – 5’
structural engineer: brad w. smith
fabrication: weltkugelmanufaktur
installation: atthowe fine art services
photos: san francisco art commission, merge
‘sky’ is a suspended light sculpture composed of 27 mirror-polished stainless steel spheres, ranging in diameters from 2 to 5 feet. the globes are hollow with circular openings facing various directions. illumination levels in the interior of each globe change slowly and give the illusion of an expanding and flattening space: it becomes indiscernible whether one looks at a surface or into an opening. the color shades, created both by the painted interior and the lighting components, are representative of various sky colors.

the installation explores the human perception of space. the exterior of the mirrored spheres use reflections to camouflage themselves in their surroundings; they reflect their environment, and distort and reproduce it in miniature. the optical effect caused by the color and light changes in the interior causes the viewer to lose a sense of the spheres’ proportions as objects. the space becomes unreadable – opening and closing at the same time.