award of merit winner: time in motion
This dynamic art installation exists in Houston's Hobby Airport baggage claim. From a distance, the expansive wall of color-changing light serves as a bold and compelling piece of public art. Up close, an interpretive timeline is revealed, which tells the 75 year history of the airport. The effect of a 'timeline in motion' is enhanced not only with the movement of the colored lights, which gracefully roll from one end to the other, but also from a specialized glass in front that is transparent when viewed from straight on, but increasingly blurred from longer angles. The distortion creates the effect of blur and motion.
The visible section of this piece is nearly 70' long and 6' tall. Behind the blurred glass, timeline elements are pinned off a translucent white diffuser wall, which is then backlit with linear LED lights. With the depth of the entire art piece totaling 16", a significant design challenge in trying to create this wall of color was getting an even wash within the 3" deep cavity allocated for the light fixtures. Several mock ups were conducted to ensure the correct specifications were chosen to fully illuminate the 3" by 6' cavity.
Housed in a municipal facility, energy use and maintainability were of primary concern. LED strips addressed both of these concerns while also providing the moving, color-changing aesthetics the artist desired.
The result is an expansive, glowing art piece which is dramatic and eye catching from afar, yet becomes more compelling and engrossing as the viewer approaches and moves with the light across it.
