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Big Idea: Urban Life Major Theme: Pushing the Limits Medium/Presentation: Atomized water particles, colored lighting (Embedded into Dilworth Park 11,6000 square foot fountain) Visual Components: Color, Direction, Form, Gradation, Harmony, Line, Movement, Repetition, Rhythm, Space, Texture, Unity Category: Fine Arts |
Description/Interpretation:
This installation piece created by Janet Echelman is 60 feet in length by 230 feet in width by 5 feet in height. It is embedded in an 11,600 square foot fountain in historic Dilworth Park. Janet Echelman was to make a permanent art piece that is inspired by historical roots of the site and its associations with water and transportation. This was commissioned by the Center City District. This public art piece is the first to be transit-activated. This means that it traces the subway and trolley lines that are underneath Dilworth Park though the surface of the fountain. As a train passes by, tiny colored atom water particles join together to create a colorful lit up curtain of mist that travels across the park and follows the transit lines that carry more that 70,000 passengers to this very site each and every day. Janet Echelman utilizes engineering in many of her pieces. This piece uses a high-pressure misting system with specialized pumps creating ultra-fine, fog-like, cool mist that rapidly evaporates. This transient mist is made up of soft filtered water through which light is projected. This allows people to be in this mist without getting harmed or even wet while interacting with the piece because of the innovative creation and use of the tiny atomized water particles. The dry mist is not only shaped by the wind but also by the people. The picture above doesn’t quite do this piece justice, but the video provided helps. This piece just opened on September 12th, 2018 so more pictures and videos will hopefully be released soon.
Janet Echelman considers this piece to be “a living X-ray of the city’s circulatory system.” The piece mirrors the activity of what is happening underground, in this case the green line train’s activity, and depicts this visually above ground with state-of-the-art technology pushing art to where it has never gone before. The idea of something tangible underground being displayed above ground is an interesting concept in general. Humans do not have the power to see through walls so art that gives us an “X-ray view” as Janet Echelman puts it. This is satisfying for viewers and interactors of the piece as they can see, feel, and experience what is happening in an area that they cannot see. It makes the intangible, tangible. The impossible, possible. Janet Echelman pushes the limits with the underground/aboveground motif, as well as her media and engineering of the technology that operates her piece. She also had to think about her piece in daylight and at night so that nothing is lost in translation. Having a piece outside, and especially one that is going to be permanent, really requires a lot of thought from artists as far as media because it must weather all storms. Literally. Janet Echelman has continuously pushed the media boundaries piece after piece, but this piece defies the limits of possibility while connecting history and community involvement. While this piece still needs funding for the rest “Pulse” to come alive, it truly electrifies the city and lets people experience the vivacious style of urban living all at this one very park.
This installation piece created by Janet Echelman is 60 feet in length by 230 feet in width by 5 feet in height. It is embedded in an 11,600 square foot fountain in historic Dilworth Park. Janet Echelman was to make a permanent art piece that is inspired by historical roots of the site and its associations with water and transportation. This was commissioned by the Center City District. This public art piece is the first to be transit-activated. This means that it traces the subway and trolley lines that are underneath Dilworth Park though the surface of the fountain. As a train passes by, tiny colored atom water particles join together to create a colorful lit up curtain of mist that travels across the park and follows the transit lines that carry more that 70,000 passengers to this very site each and every day. Janet Echelman utilizes engineering in many of her pieces. This piece uses a high-pressure misting system with specialized pumps creating ultra-fine, fog-like, cool mist that rapidly evaporates. This transient mist is made up of soft filtered water through which light is projected. This allows people to be in this mist without getting harmed or even wet while interacting with the piece because of the innovative creation and use of the tiny atomized water particles. The dry mist is not only shaped by the wind but also by the people. The picture above doesn’t quite do this piece justice, but the video provided helps. This piece just opened on September 12th, 2018 so more pictures and videos will hopefully be released soon.
Janet Echelman considers this piece to be “a living X-ray of the city’s circulatory system.” The piece mirrors the activity of what is happening underground, in this case the green line train’s activity, and depicts this visually above ground with state-of-the-art technology pushing art to where it has never gone before. The idea of something tangible underground being displayed above ground is an interesting concept in general. Humans do not have the power to see through walls so art that gives us an “X-ray view” as Janet Echelman puts it. This is satisfying for viewers and interactors of the piece as they can see, feel, and experience what is happening in an area that they cannot see. It makes the intangible, tangible. The impossible, possible. Janet Echelman pushes the limits with the underground/aboveground motif, as well as her media and engineering of the technology that operates her piece. She also had to think about her piece in daylight and at night so that nothing is lost in translation. Having a piece outside, and especially one that is going to be permanent, really requires a lot of thought from artists as far as media because it must weather all storms. Literally. Janet Echelman has continuously pushed the media boundaries piece after piece, but this piece defies the limits of possibility while connecting history and community involvement. While this piece still needs funding for the rest “Pulse” to come alive, it truly electrifies the city and lets people experience the vivacious style of urban living all at this one very park.
Use in Teaching:
Janet Echelman as a person is an inspiration. After reading up on her and watching her TED Talk I feel inspired by how she got into art, her work, and how she speaks about her work. I would like to channel that inspiration so that future students can feel this creative motivation as well. In Janet Echelman’s TED Talk she explains that she wanted to see a shift in her artwork from “an object that you can look at to something that you get lost in.” For a possible lesson with this idea in mind, I would assign students to work outside and create a sculptural piece that must withstand weather. They could pick a location of where they would like it to be within the area. Students would need to consider outside conditions as well as very selectively choosing the media that they will work with. Students will be challenged to think about how their piece looks and will be perceived at different times of the day and in different weather. I would give them that very quote from the TED Talk so that they will feel motivated and encouraged to push the boundaries and think of art in ways that they may not have ever considered before. With that, hopefully students can dig deep and critically think about how they will create an environment for viewers lose and find themselves in over and over again. |
Discussion Questions:
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