forul phie oniigianl occasinns
(two anide -beam Lijht, each
oue i'de of Kas chusrer
ca. 12' high
27-3-74
Otto Piene
Characterization Report
on the wald).
hon
Star Cluster
Field Sculpture, Institute of Astronomy, Uni versity of Hawaii, Honolulu
The tod, zih be amormtid
spectatro o
likely,par.
Lenlarly mica he couptferd
hih be' arnclsed cornpletedy
TANA
eut of reach of
The new building for the Institute of Astronomy does not have a domineering
facade, and it does not have prominent neighbors; nor is the two-story structure
particularly visible from the University of Hawaii campus.
that vandadi'san / ur
il Mm
It seems advisable, therefore, to concentrate my artistic efforts in the land-
scaped courtyard that forms an inner focus to the Institute. Here the empty wall of ehe ii
of the implementation building offers a very good area for an artwork.
Since trees will be silhouetted against the left and right portions of the wall
the middle area lends 1tself favorably to a wall sculpture.
This field sculpture will consist of ca. 150 stainless steel rods of lengths
varying bet ween one and five feet, each with an optically potent high-lead-content-
glass prism mounted on its tip. The rods will form a cluster of horizontally protruding
STAR STICKS, Their arrangement will follow an astronomi cal star cluster the image of
which will be contributed by sc entists of the U of H Institute of Astronomy (the
clients).
we
に
for
ithe
istallation of
than he
aeoroo fero
(LUSTER is shudnled for the
During the daytime the sun will cast long shadows of the rods on the wall painted
in an off-white color, and sunlight will also cast spectral projections originating
from the prisms onto the wall and other surfaces of the courtyard. The shadows and spectrs
will wander and disappear and reappear as the positions of the sun - and weather -
change
thus emphasizing seasonal and time changes.
The finad
THe configurations of the prisms will be calculated by Institute of Astronomy or
M.I.T. personnel who will also advise on further detail of lighting that is to en-
hance night time effects of the fiabd scul pture on special occasions (two wide-beam
lights, each on one side of the cluster; ca, 12° high on the wall).
month of firey.
Ausifon
The rods wi1l be mounted out of reach of spectators so that vandalism is unlikely,
particularly since the courtyard will be enclos ed completely.
thfion wir Ge
pre.
The proposed field scul pture can be manufactured and installed by means that the
budget for this project allows for, Installation of STAR CLUS TER is scheduled for
the month of July. The final design will be pres ented on May 7, 74 .
Jeuted on
ay 3 フ4.
