The proposed two public art projects are designed for the main portals of two buildings facing Walnut Street and in close visual proximity.  One sculpture, HelioFlux relates to the sun and the other, LunarFlux, relates to the moon. 

We are all used to the idea of the sun and moon being integrated as archetypes into traditions from antiquity on, and indeed, as the two brightest spheres visible to us from earth they have marked their place in religion, culture and art throughout all civilizations.

During our research we found at the Huntington Library both literary and historical references to the sun and moon as it was imagined and charted by authors and scientists over the ages, however, with these projects our own interest turns towards the twenty first century and its interpretations of these celestial bodies.

What these two artworks, the Solar and Lunar analogues do is to form mirrors of space weather activity, highlighting the explorations of locally developed science through art.

It was the apex of an extended U.S. program to study and map the Moon, beginning with Ranger 7 impacting the Moon on July 31, 1964 and culminating with Apollo 17, which left the Moon on December 14, 1972. The scientific return from these missions was immensely important and included nearly complete high-resolution imaging of the lunar surface, lunar samples, topographic, seismic, and gravity data, and information on the lunar environment. 

Developments at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology have led to the launching of such satellites as the Advanced Composition Explorer,  which provides 24/7 continuous coverage of solar wind parameters and solar energetic particle intensities which is more usually known as “Space Weather.”  This data includes solar flare activity as well as geomagnetic storms.  At the North and South Poles this activity translates into the visible lights known as Aurora Borealis, however, solar weather also has a direct effect on our daily lives, usually in imperceptible but substantial ways.

LunarFlux

This sculpture is placed in the ceiling of the North-facing portal of 700 East Walnut.  The form of the sculpture is a mildly concave circle of about 14’ diameter, and is made up of an array of stainless-steel tubes.  Each tube has an exterior-grade white LED placed inside it that is programmable, with the resulting effect that the LunarFlux sculpture reflects the phases of the moon, and, in addition streams the current force of the space weather and other parameters such as the moon’s gravitational force on earth, to cause changing light “ripples” across the surface of the sculpture.

SolarFlux

This sculpture is placed in the ceiling of the North facing portal of the 770 East Walnut building.  The form of the sculpture is a convex half sphere of about 14’ in diameter and is made up of an array of stainless-steel tubes.  Each tube has an exterior-grade orange and white LED placed inside it that is programmable, with the resulting effect that the SolarFlux sculpture displays the state of solar sun spots, and in addition streams the dynamic pressure of the solar wind, its magnetic field component and speed, to cause changing light oscillations and flares across the surface of the sculpture.

Specs:

In the daytime, the installations are eye-catching as sculptural forms, a bright array of tubes of different lengths, somewhat like a bee’s hive, or reminiscent perhaps of Moorish architecture such as the Alhambra. The night time experience would be an ever changing subtle play of light. 

We are considering including flat screens in the portals, at wheel-chair accessible level, to give a live feed of these parameters so the relationship between space weather and the sculptures is visible to all.  

Another approach that would be quite feasible to set up and maintain would be a website that has a webcam view of the sculptures and also monitors of space weather. The identification plaques would include the web site link.  This has the potential of drawing more attention to the artwork and Pasadena's public art program. The webcams double up as monitoring devices in case the software needs to be modified. 

The sculptures are built in sections off site, tested and assembled on location.  Pick-points will be decided upon as per engineering specs.

A maintenance plan will be submitted after final design, though with no moving parts and the sculptures being shielded from rain, we anticipate relative ease of maintenance and upkeep. 

The sculptures themselves are made of stainless steel tubing which resist rusting and maintain a great appearance. The sculptural elements are also out of reach of vandals so that is of no concern.

The outdoor grade LED’s have up to 100,000 hours lifetime guarantee.  All wiring, programming and assembly will be to maximum grade of durability and reliability.

An access closet for the electronic system would be considered near or at each portal. Power needs are a 15 amp circuit / 110V at each portal.

If used, the flat screen would be outdoor grade and protected by a vandal proof glass covering.

Sometimes the use of stainless steel and its subsequent reflectivity has been known to be an issue for tenants, but in this case this is not an issue as sunlight reflection will not enter any adjoining windows from these contained environments.  During the final design phase, we will also closely regulate the light spill from the sculptures at night.

In a previous competition award, infranatural,  a team consisting of  Jenna Didier, Oliver Hess and Marcos Lutyens worked on a project called Flor Essence.  The development was then sold, terminating Flor Essence and the development was bought by Trammell Crow Residential.  A new public art review looked at the proposals of 9 artists and the above project, created by Marcos Lutyens was chosen.

Public Art Consultant:  Beatrix Barker