Pananemone 1987

City Hall Park, Public Art Fund, Inc., New York, NY

Dimensions:
This work was dispersed throughout City Hall Park and occupied a total area of 450’ x 400’ (13,716 x 12,192 cm.)

Elements:
Incremental Wind Sensors, Burst of Golden Directional Rays, Bronze Gravity Plummets, Pananemones, Random Copper Spheres

Materials:
Bronze, Aluminum, Steel, Teflon, Fiberglass, Polyethylene, Pigment, Copper, Gold

Site Description:
City Hall Park is an urban arena filled with trees and laced with paths at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. Surrounded by tall, turn of the century buildings, the park is a vestige of nature in the dense metropolis of New York City.

Note:
The work is now part of the permanent collection of Stephen Oliver and is on view in the landscape of Geyserville, California.

Project Description:

Pananemone is made up of sixty-six component parts dispersed throughout City Hall Park. The experience of the work is a discovery: mysterious copper spheres are scattered across the lawns, forming clusters of curiously perfect meteorites. Suspended from the trees above, a series of instruments are animated by the wind. Collectively, these elements give evidence to the converging air currents.

The composite centerpiece gives focus to the entire work. Here the two distinct components converge, clearly articulating the physics at work: a large copper sphere is anchored. Directly above, suspended as if by magic, a sleek banded horizontal taper tracks the wind. Propelled by a gilt lozenge fin, it performs in response to the fluctuating air currents. A sunburst of gold tapers accents the motion. This large instrument is anchored by a substantial bronze plummet pointing down at the copper sphere and beyond, to the center of gravity.

Pananemone presents a dialogue between the dynamic fluid volume of air, as discernible evidence and truth, and the infinite mystery of the earth.