For Cloud, we explored the universal symbol of the human hand.
The “catenary” is a basic form in nature: a chain suspended from two points will always make this beautiful shape. Antonio Gaudi used the catenary as a means of studying the forms in his Sagrada Familia Cathedral of Barcelona. Our project, located in the lobby space of the new Senior Center at 9th and Jessie Streets in San Francisco, is comprised of more than 300 suspended chains (catenaries); each link in the chains is a hand. There are many different hands that make up the chains: sometimes the hands have an open palm, sometimes the fingers are stretched outward, sometimes the fingers curl as if to gently hold an object, sometimes the hands grasp one another. Combining the logic of animation with sculpture, the shape of each individual hand is derived from video footage. Arrayed in sequences, the hands produce the impression of human gestures.
Lead Artists and Designers: Benjamin Ball, Gaston Nogues
Project Management: Jonathan Kitchens
Project Team: Benjamin Jenett, James Jones, Ayodh Kamath, Alison Kung, Jielu Lu, Lawrence Shanks, Rachel Shillander, Ron Shvartsman.
Custom Software Development: www.sparcestudio.com
