Light Pillar will be both an iconic sculpture and a delicate shaft of color within the atrium that will continually change throughout the day. The work promises to transform a journey through the ship into an encounter between the everyday and the sublime. By way of sophisticated algorithmic computation combined with techniques borrowed from traditional methods of textile production and cell animation, Light Pillar’s intricate form will rival the complexity of natural phenomenon. Guests might compare its aesthetics to that of billowing mist in an evening sun.
Constructed from over 10,000 segments of brightly painted stainless steel ball chain, each one unique in length and location, it will be assembled to form an array of “catenaries.” Catenary is the mathematical term that describes the form of a chain hanging between two points. The catenaries will be suspended from thin cables that will be supported by the ceiling structure and guy wired to the walls for stability.
Light Pillar will not be comprehended from a single vantage point; it will appear to change with the viewer’s movement so that it is inherently linked to the trajectory of one’s journeys through the ship. From each level within the atrium it will appear differently to viewers. While the catenaries define Light Pillar, its transparent quality will be constructed from the negative space between the catenaries, which will allow sight to extend into and through the piece to the other side of the atrium: viewers will see people and the architecture of the ship through the artwork. As viewers move up and down the elevators it will also generate the perception that the piece itself is moving – each catenary will appear to shift in orientation relative to its neighbors to give a sense that it is twisting in space – an stroboscopic effect akin to what can be experienced when looking at a zoetrope or cell animation.
Likewise, the colors of the piece will blend and change according to one’s vantage point. Light Pillar might be understood as a composition of gestural volumes of color hovering within the array of catenaries. Like voluminous patterns on a translucent, three-dimensional tapestry, the colors will dissolve into washes then snap into clear geometry with one’s changing vantage point. Light Pillar will invite the visitor to explore its forms by way of movement.
The work will also transform in response to the play of light and changing orientation of the ship throughout the day. Shafts of light will take form within the array of catenaries as if cutting through mist. The reflective qualities of the ball chain, that form the catenaries, will act as miniature convex mirrors, capturing light from all corners of the atrium as well as reflections from the adjacent balls.
Our method of fabricating Light Pillar is akin to a 21st century application of Ikat, an Indonesian term for the ancient textile process of resist dye. A labor-intensive method, Ikat involves the application of vibrant colors to precise locations on individual yarns that, when woven, form a blurry edged pattern. Similarly, we will color our chains individually in precise locations with the aid of a computer controlled, programmable machine of our own design to yield a three dimensional pattern of color. Called the Instal-lator 3, the machine will help us assemble approximately 50 kilometers of chain and cut it to prescribed lengths determined by an integrated software system. The Instal-lator effortlessly performs and seamlessly unifies three distinct operations – measuring, cutting, and marking lengths of chain. It combines these seemingly disparate operations into one continuous sequence of procedures that would be extremely time consuming and tedious for a person to coordinate without its aid. To perfect this process required over six years of continuous research and development.
The shape of the thousands of hanging chains will be computed with a mathematical formula, however the piece will be assembled in our shop and installed in the ship by human hands.
This work references textile production, advanced technology and handcraft while generating effects suggestive of animation and natural light phenomena. Experiencing Light Pillar will be like looking into a gently shifting, colored atmosphere. It will capture the imagination of visitors of all ages and from all cultures.
