A couple months back I was approached to design a sculpture to be included in an art competition here in Grand Rapids, MI. I've never designed a sculpture before, apart from a college art project or two, so I initially felt quite perplexed on how to approach it. The two main visionaries of the project, David Lubbers and Linda Williams provided me with photos of existing sculptures they had gathered online. Most were outdoor installations of abstract sculptures.
The key aspect of the vision though was that the sculpture was to be installed in the middle of the Grand River downtown! This part of the river has a small rocky area that protrudes above the normal water level. Years ago, this area had a large cement object sitting on it. This object, from what I remember the city historian telling me, was once used as a support for an electric cable that ran from the east side of the river bringing power to the west side. It's since crumbled from erosion and ice that has broken it apart. It's often underwater when the river is high.
My early thoughts and concepts were mostly abstract, but it seemed that the location in the river called for something representational. An odd looking sculpture in the middle of the river could quickly bring scorn or conjure nicknames (see one infamous story here). I felt a hint of a recognizable element was necessary and two ideas came to mind, both involving river and water themes.
The first was a mobile of sorts with oval shapes that resembled fish or birds. The arms would span about 35 feet tall and wide to create a tree-like display. My hope was that the fish would swivel in the wind and reflect sunlight onto the water below.
Final Concept:
The second concept took the river theme a bit further to include elements that the river provides the people of the city. These include life-giving elements (amoeba-like shapes) and gears that represent industry. A large flower shape would be the primary focus but I didn't develop that shape fully. Flowing arms would support the elements. This flowing aspect would also hopefully bring to mind the city logo that features a similar wavy shape.
Alternative idea:
Both concepts would require a tripod base for support. Engineering this base was not part of my responsibility fortunately!
During this time, the river was quite high because of tremendous rainfall in the area. I stopped downtown and snapped a few photos of the area where the small island of rocks is usually seen (now quite underwater). A view from the west bank, with the tall JW Marriott and Amway hotels in view, seemed the most impressive. I found a photo online of the rocky island and created a composite conceptual rendering of both ideas.
The fish idea won out. I'm looking forward to what the actual sculpture looks like once installed and will post photos. If the final sculpture is impressive, maybe someone will demand (and pay) for a permanent sculptured installed there. I anticipate the contest entry will only be in place a few weeks during late September and early October while the contest is on.
There are well over a thousand artists in the competition and I look forward to spending a day downtown visiting the other entries.
While I don't anticipate quitting my day job to become a sculptor any time soon, maybe my experience working with 3D software and illustration proved helpful at the end of the day. It's always fun to have a real challenging project at times and I'm glad I was simply able to come up with a concept that others thought worthy. We'll see in the public voting just how many others like it too.
An article was just published in the local Grand Rapids Press about the project. Here's the entry on the ArtPrize website.
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