Client: Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON)

Overview

‘SEAGRASS’ is an interactive suspended sculpture created for the Louisiana Universities’ Marine Consortium (LUMCON). Inspired by the flowing form of seagrass on the Louisiana gulf, the vision for the sculpture was to capture a singular moment in time where the leaves are dancing in the water.

The sculpture measures 31’ long, 13’ in height, and 17’ wide. It hangs in the building lobby, warmly welcoming visitors into their Blue Works facility and heralding the incredible work done in the facility. An interactive lighting system creates various colorways and subtle patterns in response to live atmospheric data that is being collected from weather stations at Cocodrie and hydrographic instruments behind the LUMCON property.

The 700 blades are made from a translucent material treated with a gradient coloring process. The custom-dye aims to both capture natural daylight and heighten the feeling of life emanating from the sculpture. An intricate hardware connection system affixed to a uni strut channel mounted on the ceiling gives this piece its shape. Steel cable connections of different lengths and the grid of responsive LEDs located near the base of the material support the illusion of movement.

Goals

LUMCON’s Blue Works campus was a new 27,000 sq foot facility and collaborative technology space to continue their mission of strengthening oceanic and coastal environments through research, connection, enrichment, and innovation. The project called for digital, kinetic, or technology-based artwork, marrying coastal and ocean with digital, computational, technological, and engineering themes. As the hero installation in the atrium/front lobby area, the goal was to create artwork that would generate awe and excitement to all entering Blue Works.

These goals were incredibly important and heavily considered during the design’s development. Much like the ethos of LUMCON, my artwork stands at the intersection of science, nature, and community. I am an artist who often finds inspiration in microbiology and our natural realms, abstracting their forms through digital design processes and combining them with unique mechanical systems to create dynamic forms. Utilizing innovative materials and technologies, I generally approach each sculpture intending to create a dialogue around our communities, natural realms/resources, engineering, and sustainability. LUMCON’s mission and my artistic philosophy were very well aligned, which allowed for a beautiful collaboration and work of art.

Process

I find collaboration is key when it comes to public art projects, and the best work comes to life when the artist and stakeholders are fully in sync. The collaboration process for this project began with me listening to LUMCON’s staff, the building’s architects, and Louisiana’s Percent for Art Program team. It was fortunate that our intentions were already so well aligned, and my proposed ideas were well received. However, it was through these crucial follow-up conversations, that new and better ideas blossomed.

For example, the sculpture’s interactive lighting was originally proposed as a motion-reactive system that would respond to people inside the lobby. Through discussion of the center’s initiatives and deeper research and development, we refined the concept and adjusted the system to respond to real-time weather data.

We also worked closely with LUMCON’s construction team to develop a hanging system for the artwork that could be better incorporated into the construction pipeline and with their engineers to develop an efficient rigging strategy that minimized impact on the facility.