In an interestingly synchronistic turn of events:
I recently learned that Mickey Hart is working on a project that will, in grandiose terms, “turn the Golden Gate Bridge into a giant wind harp”. Link to article here.
The Creative Kraken – inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge, Angler Fish, Da Vinci’s Catapult, and the skeleton of a Grey Whale – is in fact a giant interactive wind harp that people and the wind can play with.
We hope to see you at the Museum, Mickey!
After months of research, meetings with various stakeholders, prototyping, and applying our insights to refine our design, we are now ready to begin fabricating our interactive, kinetic wind and sound sculpture.
At our last meeting at the museum, I chalked an actual-sized outline of the installation for the museum staff to get a sense of the scale of the piece; 12 feet wide at the opening of the base, 17 foot long legs, 15 foot tall supports, and a 35 foot long cantilevered spine which will suspend our “lure” (a collection of Indian copper bells and maritime doodads).
One exciting aspect of this participatory design process has been the decision to build our sculpture out of bamboo and our subsequent partnership with bamboo building experts Darrel Deboer and Kevin Rowell.
I spent the earlier part of this week on Darrel’s property in El Sobrante working with artist Brit Howard to begin construction. First we were careful to select the best pieces of bamboo – 20 foot long sections of Phyllostachys bambusoides.
Then we set about cutting, arranging and bolting our poles.
I’m off to Costa Rica for 2 weeks and when I return, we’ll complete the piece and install it at the Museum!! Stay tuned…