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Description:
This art piece is made up of aluminum, mirrors and a series of wave
generators in the bottom of the shallow reflecting pool that borders
the north end of the Tempe Center for the Arts. These generators
create a random series of circular ripples, like huge raindrops
falling on a lake that will spread out through the pool in
ever-changing patterns. An array of three-inch aluminum mirrors are
installed in the space between the glass layers of the west facade
of the Lakeside Room. Each of the tiny mirrors is aimed down to
reflect a small “snapshot” of the water surface below. As the
circular waves move across the pool, the mirror array digitizes the
flow patterns.
Funding:
The project was funded through city of
Tempe Capital Improvement Project Percent for Art funds.
Artist biography:
Ned
Kahn's
creative impetus began in the San Francisco Bay Area, where soon
after graduating from the University of Connecticut he became an
apprentice to the late Frank Oppenheimer, legendary founder of the
San Francisco Exploratorium. Kahn continued working at the
Exploratorium as an exhibit designer for 10 years, where numerous
works of his are still on display. Other art installations by Kahn
can be found around the Bay Area,
including 14 exhibits at the Chabot Space and Science and "Wind
Portal" at the San Francisco International Airport BART station.
Artist statement: I was inspired by the image of rain in
the desert or the discovery of a pool, hidden in the rocks of a
seemingly dry stream with ripples of light reflecting onto the stone
above…the incongruity of water in the desert. The title was inspired
by the recent discovery that there are vast amounts of water on the
Moon in the form of ice buried under the surface. In recent years, I
have complete a series of artworks that reveal forces in the
environment by converting natural flow patterns, such as wind, into
the pixilated motion of thousands of small metal parts. I have been
calling these artworks "detectors" for they are analogous to the
detectors on telescopes and other scientific devices that reveal the
effects of the invisible.
The Tempe public art program is managed by city
of Tempe Cultural Services staff
with input from the Tempe Municipal Arts Commission, a 15-member,
mayor-appointed advisory board.
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