Post 8: Design Preview

Kinetic Wind Sculpture Outside ITLL Building

For my upcycling project I took inspiration from the kinetic wind sculpture that hangs outside of the ITLL Building on the CU Boulder campus. For the upcycling project I mostly took inspiration from its overall aesthetic and meaning. For my final project I am planning on creating an artifact that is more similar to the kinetic wind sculpture.

Wind Veil – Ned Kahn

In researching kinetic wind sculptures I came across Ned Kahn who has done a lot of work with kinetic wind sculptures. I have included an image of one of his sculptures which covers an entire parking garage in North Carolina. You can see how the wind causes the light reflecting off the panels to shimmer. I highly recommend looking Ned Kahn’s work on youtube to see it in action.

Field of Air – Ned Kahn

Both the ITLL wind sculpture and the Wind Veil piece look very similar and follow the same method for creating motion. I looked into Ned Kahn’s other works and found his “Field of Air” piece that resides at the Denver International Airport. The piece has the same effect as the other two but achieves the effect using a different motion.

My vision for this project is a kinetic wind sculpture that I can hang on a outside wall or set down as a standalone sculpture. I chose to follow a minimalist aesthetic with minimal decorative features beyond the shimmering disks. I want the artifact to be large enough to visualize how the flow of air is different at different locations. This sculpture should hopefully be calming to the viewer and make them more knowledgeable about how the world is flowing around them.

Initial Project Sketch

I have included an image of my initial sketch for the project. I decided to follow a similar approach to the ITLL wind sculpture and Ned Kahn’s “Wind Veil”. Instead of having a black canvas behind the dynamic sculpture like the ITLL sculpture I opted to go with a transparent “backing”. To connect the reflective disks I had initially planned to use fishing line but after doing additional research I plan to use key rings.

Final Project Plans

A CAD drawing of my final project plans is shown above. It will contain 320 mylar disks. The frame will be made out of wood for cost reasons. I have not begun fabricating the project but I have ordered materials to streamline the fabrication process in the future.

References

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71z8y-VrYGL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71dvf3JGNhL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg