BREATHE;
2022. A proposed and unbuilt public artwork.
Anodised Aluminium, high polish stainless steel, LED programmable lighting.
16.5m x 5m x 1.5m high
JOYFUL ART FOR HEALTH PRECINCT
The concept central to this artwork for a health precinct was to evoke a feeling of abundance; which subconsciously, regardless of cultural background, is believed to provide a sense of well-being. Anthropological theory and evolutionary psychology suggest that visual abundance through the mass repetition of form or pattern generates feelings of well-being as it is innately associated with an abundance of food or shelter; such as a tree heavily laden with fruit, schools of fish in a river, or extensive crops.
Breathing life into the space, the artwork’s calm pulsating light casts changing coloured light, that intensifies in the central area and flows out to the extremities and back again over 10 seconds, evoking the impression of a living, breathing structure overhead. Akin to the sun awakening the day.
PUBLIC ART THAT BREATHES LIGHT
Combined with the abundance of hanging tubes it calls to mind elements of a living system; grasses, capillaries, limbs, and tentacles: abundant and pulsing with life. The rippling and ever-changing reflections off the highly polished stainless steel soffit reinforce the liveliness of the work.
The abundance and implied movement echo a cross-cultural psychological effect of a sense of plenty and richness, imprinting a sense of well-being, fullness, and safety onto the audience by this ‘breathing’ structure. Creating a work that would have cross-cultural meaning by linking to shared experiences of the healing effect of breathing and warm sunlight, was crucial for this site that would attract a diverse audience.
