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
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.