Concept

Flow Field – Motion of air around an object

Throughout his career, Gordon Huether has had a great interest in enhancing an airport’s public space through the installation of artwork. The appeal of an airport’s immense “blank” canvas and the opportunity to transform travelers’ experiences inspires him to design and fabricate artwork that elevates and enhances a passenger’s experience of getting from point A to point B.

The allure of air travel, a fascination with flight and the history of commercial aviation are concepts central to the development of his design. Gordon states: “I remember the awe I felt as a little boy when I looked up to see an airplane flying overhead. As a child, I could not comprehend how the plane was “suspended” in the sky and I tried to unravel this mystery by crafting simple paper airplanes of my own.” This memory was another source of inspiration, as he developed a concept for this installation. Contemplation of the principles of aerodynamics and the mechanics of motion that are inherent to flight led him to think about travelers and their own experience of motion as they hurry through transportation hubs and airports.

After a visit to Tampa, Gordon describes “sitting in my seat as the airplane took off, I was mesmerized by what I saw out of the window. The shimmering, reflection of sunlight and the vibrant colors cast upon the ocean surface became yet another source of inspiration for this installation. I wanted to incorporate in the artwork the dazzling reflections of sunrise and sunset, as viewed from the window of a plane, arriving or departing from Tampa International Airport.”

The Sculpture

The installation is composed of 480 individual stainless steel cables, hung in a grid pattern from the station’s ceiling and suspended over the light well.

Each cable is strung with 15 aluminum airplanes for a grand total of 5,760 planes. The distribution of the strands was governed by the desire to maintain an unobstructed sightline. Colored LED lighting will be carefully installed within the light well and will illuminate the installation by a slow-moving color sequence. The gentle movement of the planes, together with subtle transformations of light and color, will create a highly dynamic and mesmerizing installation, well within the allotted weight requirements. (The work adds no more than one pound of weight per square foot, arriving at a total of 500 pounds for the entire installation.)

This proposed artwork explores kinetics and light, expressed by the abstracted shape of an airplane and slowly shifting expressions of color. The movement and energy of travelers activate the installation as they pass by, and the arrival and departure of transit trains on the station’s platform create an additional source of energy to activate the installation. The work establishes a relationship with the viewer by creating a “symbiotic” connection between the two. Only with the movement of viewers is the installation fully realized.