 Janet Echelman was selected to design an iconic sculpture to anchor the new LeBauer City Park in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina. The monumental sculpture is composed of 35 miles of technical fibers crafted into 242,800 knots which gently pulse in breeze, creating an ephemeral presence in the sky above the new city park. The commission was led by a $1-million grant from the Edward M. Armfield, Sr. Foundation, which commissioned The Community Foundation`s Public Art Endowment to manage and execute the project. They searched for an artist to give visual form to the history of Greensboro and the textile tradition of North Carolina, and selected Janet Echelman. &ldquo;I discovered that Greensboro was nicknamed the &lsquo;Textile Capital of the World` and &lsquo;Gateway City` because six railroad lines intersected there, &ldquo; said Echelman, &ldquo; so I started tracing the railway lines and marking the historic textile mills that dotted the routes. These routes brought together people from diverse cultures and races, so I wove together lines of brilliant color that meet at the center, and titled it &lsquo;Where We Met`.&rdquo; The sculpture spans 200 feet between 60-foot-tall masts, each bearing up to 6 tons of force. Echelman recently unveiled designs for the next 15 years of the public artwork, which will begin a multi-year color progression in which the color scheme of the sculptural fiber netting is changed approximately every 5 years with a new color palette. Other elements of the artwork remain constant, including the sculpture`s structural rope system. Echelman hopes this cyclical change of color will energize the relationship of the artwork with Greensboro residents: &ldquo;Each time the colors change, it`s an invitation to see the familiar in a new light. And over the years, I hope people will look back at the photos they`ve taken and be able to locate memories and phases of their lives by the colors of the sculpture.&rdquo; Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

LeBauer Park @ Greensboro Downtown Parks

Where We Met

 The Earthtime sculptures seek to heighten our awareness about the way we are all interconnected with one another and our physical world. They explore the contrast between the forces we can understand and control with those we cannot, and the concerns of our daily existence within the larger cycles of time. Echelman`s studio modeled the physical form for 1.8 using a scientific data set about how a single geologic occurrence in one part of the world had ripple effects all over the world. They measured the change in wave heights of the ocean`s surface as they rippled across the entire Pacific Ocean following an earthquake which originated in Japan in 2011. Its form is a manifestation of interconnectedness &ndash; when any one element in the sculpture moves, every other element is affected. The earth`s day was shortened as a result of this physical event and the length of time measured in microseconds. Titles within the Earthtime series sometimes refer to that numerical measurement of time. To date, the 1.8 sculpture has been installed in: London, UK (2016), San Diego, CA (2016), Mexico City, Mexico (2017), Beijing, China (2017), Xian, China (2018), Green Mountain Falls, CO (2019), and Perth, Australia (2021). Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Supreme Court Gardens

1.8 Perth

 Earthtime 1.78 Helsinki was installed in Helsinki`s Senate Square for the month of August for the 2021 Helsinki Biennial. Janet Echelman's Earthtime sculpture series heightens our awareness of our interconnectedness with one another and our physical planet. The sculpture serves as a symbol of interconnectedness, composed of countless intertwined fibers. Each time a single knot moves in the wind, the location of every other knot in the sculpture`s surface is changed in an ever unfolding dance of human-made creation with the forces of nature beyond our control. To create the sculptural form, Echelman works with teams both inside and outside her studio. These include architects, designers, and model-makers in the studio, as well as an external team of aeronautical and structural engineers, computer scientists, lighting designers, landscape architects, and a fabrication team. Inside Echelman`s studio, the physical form of Earthtime 1.78 Helsinki was digitally modeled with inspiration from a scientific data set describing a single geological occurrence -- an earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 -- which caused ripple effects around the globe and even sped up the earth's daily rotation. The number in the title refers to a measurement of time, as the earth`s day was shortened by 1.78 microseconds. For this exhibition, Janet collaborated with Finnish sound and light artists throughout the pandemic to create a unique sound and projected light performance. Underwater microphones and tower-top wind sensors generated a data feed that influenced the changing light. The Helsinki Festival commissioned a live music performance underneath as well. Sculpture fabrication begins with braiding custom engineered fibers which are fifteen times stronger than steel by weight. These custom-colored twines are knotted both by loom and by hand, and every rope is spliced using centuries-old craft techniques. Connecting the past with the present, the artwork takes ancient methods to a new urban scale. The Earthtime series is a global traveling project. To date, the 1.78 sculpture has been installed in Madrid, Spain (2018), Dubai, UAE (2018), Beverly Hills, CA (2019), Bor&aring;s, Sweden (2021), Helsinki, Finland (2021), and Vienna, Austria (2021). Each installation has unique colored lighting designed to speak with its specific architectural and historic context. Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Senate Square

1.78 Helsinki

 Janet Echelman was commissioned to create the headlining sculpture for GLOW 2013, the art event for site-specific works on Santa Monica Beach. Lasting only one night - from dusk to dawn - the beach is transformed into a &ldquo;playground for thoughtful and participatory, temporary art.&rdquo; On the night of September 28, 2013, more than 150,000 people attended GLOW and participated in sculpting the earthwork beneath Echelman`s aerial sculpture, &ldquo;The Space Between Us,&rdquo; making it one of the largest public art events in the U.S. In an article published the morning after the event, The New York Times credited Echelman`s work for &ldquo;giving crafts a coolly conceptual edge.&rdquo; Echelman`s ground-breaking work utilized experimental elements, including shaped earth and an audio component that synced to a pulsating lighting program. The artist and her team collaborated with City Public Works staff to create carved sand indentations for visitors to enter and gaze up at the aerial sculpture, becoming a part of the immersive experience. Echelman views this commission as a point of growth and departure. &ldquo;The beach is the charged zone between human society and uncontrolled nature,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I`m interested in sculpting earth and sky, and placing ourselves in between. It`s the collision of heaviness and lightness, between our gravity-bound bodies which walk on sand, and the part of us which seeks to float in air, or in water.&rdquo; &ldquo;My goal was to invite people to have an ephemeral sensory experience without words - a moment of contemplation that can evoke preverbal memory and engage our Limbic brain.&rdquo; Produced by the Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division and the Santa Monica Arts Foundation, the goal of the evening was to &ldquo;break through the public`s preconceived notion of what art can be, encouraging both thoughtful contemplation and energetic participation,&rdquo; said GLOW organizers. Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Santa Monica Beach

The Space Between Us

 Echelman`s soft, voluminous net sculpture surged 180 feet through the air between buildings above Oxford Circus, the busiest pedestrian area in all of London. The monumental floating form is composed of layers of fiber, braided and knotted together in vibrant hues that pulse with changing wind and weather to create a choreography of undulating color. At night, the sculpture came to life with projected colored light. The precise colors and patterns were created interactively with members of the public, who were invited to use their smartphones to select colors and tap out patterns with the touch of a finger. These patterns were projected onto the monumental surface of the sculpture, and proceeded to interact with one another, creating ripple effects for all to see. The work`s title is 1.8, referring to the length of time in microseconds that the earth`s day was shortened as a result of a single physical event, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that emanated from Japan. The sculpture`s form was inspired by data sets of the tsunami`s wave heights rippling across the entire Pacific Ocean. The artwork delves into content related to our complex interdependencies with larger cycles of time and our physical world. The sculpture`s net structure is a physical manifestation of interconnectedness - when any one element moves, every other element is affected. Lightweight and flexible, the sculpture travels to other cites around the world after its premiere at Lumiere London 2016, a light festival produced by Artichoke. It is constructed from technical fibers that are 15 times stronger than steel by weight, and custom color blends that Echelman combines with programmed colored light to create the final artwork. The artwork invites you to pause amid the bustle and commotion, offering a chance to gaze skyward and contemplate a physical manifestation of the interconnectedness surrounding us. To date, the 1.8 sculpture has been installed in: London, UK (2016), San Diego, CA (2016), Mexico City, Mexico (2017), Beijing, China (2017), Xian, China (2018), Green Mountain Falls, CO (2019), and Perth, Australia (2021). Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Oxford Circus

1.8 London

 With the opening of St. Petersburg`s new 26-acre waterfront Pier in 2020, Janet Echelman unveiled her newest permanent work, Bending Arc. Composed of 1,662,528 knots and 180 miles of twine, the aerial sculpture spans 424 feet and measures 72 feet at its tallest point. Echelman's art embraces change. The monumental sculpture gently billows above the Pier District, allowing the wind to create a choreography of constantly changing shape in the sculpture's soft surface. The sculpture`s color also transforms at every moment while its surface interplays with natural and projected light. In daytime the sculpture casts shadow drawings on the park and people below, and at night it transforms into a glowing beacon of magenta and violet light. The internationally-renowned artist, born and raised along the shores of Tampa Bay, was inspired by historical postcards depicting blue and white striped beach parasols together with the geometric forms made by colonies of barnacles growing on the underside of the pier itself. The sculpture`s design in aerial view can be read as three barnacle-like parasols nestled together. As she continued her design process, she learned of the site`s important Civil Rights Movement significance, as the place where local citizens began peacefully challenging racial barriers, leading to the 1957 US Supreme Court case ruling which upheld the rights of all citizens to enjoy use of the municipal beach and swimming pool without discrimination. The sculpture`s geometry in section is composed of multiple arcs, which gently billow in the wind. The artist titled the sculpture Bending Arc in reference to MLK`s words: &ldquo;The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.&rdquo; A public-private partnership, the fiber sculpture was funded entirely by private donors, and the cost of its related infrastructure and park was covered within the city`s $92 million Pier District project. Made entirely of lightweight fiber, the monumental sculpture is engineered to withstand 150 mph winds, and the maximum force applied to its masts is 65 tons. The rope is made of a fiber 15 times stronger than steel by weight and was used by NASA to tether the Mars Rover. The net in plan covers 47,500 square feet. The net and ropes weigh a total of 5,330 pounds. Echelman`s artwork offers visitors an oasis where they can seek a moment of calm sensory experience and heightened awareness of nature and our place within it. &ldquo;The sky is the canvas for my artwork,&rdquo; says Echelman. Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

St. Pete Pier

Bending Arc

 Janet Echelman`s 230-foot-long aerial sculpture was installed over the Amstel River from atop the Amsterdam Stopera, which houses the City Hall and Muziektheater. The 1.26 sculpture is a made entirely of soft materials, including Spectra&reg; fiber, a material 15 times stronger than steel by weight, which allows it to attach to existing architecture without extra reinforcement. A unique lighting program integrates an undulation of changing and contrasting colors, reflected on the water below. The sculpture becomes an ethereal form which transforms day to night, and in darkness appears to &ldquo;float in thin air.&rdquo; The form and content of the artwork draws inspiration from the interconnectedness of Earth`s systems. The artist used laboratory data from NASA and NOAA on the effects of the 2010 Chile earthquake, and the resulting 1.26-microsecond shortening of the Earth`s day. The sculpture`s three-dimensional form is inspired by Echelman`s mapping of tsunami wave heights across an entire ocean. As the signature project of the 2012-2013 Amsterdam Light Festival, the artwork underscores global interdependence. &ldquo;In Amsterdam, the river and canals have been central to city life for the last four centuries,&rdquo; said Echelman. &ldquo;The light reflections on the water's surface become a focus of the sculpture here, creating an opportunity for contemplation. The sculpture invites you to pause and consider how we`re knitted into a larger fabric.&rdquo; Rogier van der Heide, internationally acclaimed lighting designer and curator of the Amsterdam Light Festival, said Echelman`s sculpture &ldquo;provided more meaning to public spaces, showed the beauty of simplicity, and &ndash; probably most importantly &ndash; brought people together.&rdquo; To date, the 1.26 sculpture has been installed in 11 cities on 4 continents: Denver, Colorado (2010), Sydney, Australia (2011), Amsterdam, Netherlands (2013), Singapore (2014), Montreal, Canada (2015, 2016, 2017), Prague, Czech Republic (2015), Durham, UK (2015), Santiago, Chile (2016), Shanghai, China (2017), Chiayi, Taiwan (2018), and Hong Kong, China (2018). Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Suspended over the Amstel River in front of the Amsterdam Stopera (the City Hall and Opera House)

1.26 Amsterdam

 A monumental, aerial sculpture is suspended over Boston`s Rose Kennedy Greenway from May through October 2015 as the signature contemporary art installation in the Greenway Conservancy`s Public Art Program. The sculpture for Boston spans the void where an elevated highway once split downtown from its waterfront. Knitting together the urban fabric, it soars 600 feet through the air above street traffic and pedestrian park. The form of &ldquo;As If It Were Already Here&rdquo; echoes the history of its location. The three voids recall the &ldquo;Tri-Mountain&rdquo; which was razed in the 18th-century to create land from the harbor. The colored banding is a nod to the six traffic lanes that once overwhelmed the neighborhood, before the Big Dig buried them and enabled the space to be reclaimed for urban pedestrian life. The sculpture is made by hand-splicing rope and knotting twine into an interconnected mesh of more than a half-million nodes. When any one of its elements moves, every other element is affected. Monumental in scale and strength yet delicate as lace, it fluidly responds to ever-changing wind and weather. Its fibers are 15 times stronger than steel yet incredibly lightweight, making the sculpture able to lace directly into three skyscrapers as a soft counterpoint to hard-edged architecture. It is a physical manifestation of interconnectedness and strength through resiliency. In daylight the porous form blends with sky when looking up, and casts shadow-drawings onto the ground below. At night it becomes an illuminated beacon. The artwork incorporates dynamic light elements which reflect the changing effects of wind. Sensors around the site register fiber movement and tension and this data directs the color of light projected onto the sculpture`s surface. &ldquo;Here in Boston, I`m excited to visually knit together the fabric of the city with art,&rdquo; said Echelman. &ldquo;The creation of the Greenway was a seminal event in the unfolding of our city, so I`m delighted and humbled to be a part of its transformation into a vibrant cultural destination.&rdquo; The work invites you to linger, whether seen amidst the skyline from afar, or lying down on the grassy knoll beneath. It embraces Boston as a city on foot, where past and present are interwoven, and takes our gaze skyward to feel the vibrant pulse of now. It invites you to pause, and contemplate a physical manifestation of interconnectedness &ndash; soft with hard, earth with sky, things we control with the forces beyond us. Courtesy of Echelman Studio.

 Rose Kennedy Greenway

As If It Were Already Here

For its first installation, 1.26 was suspended from the roof of the 7-story Denver Art Museum above downtown street traffic to commemorate the inaugural Biennial of the Americas. The City of Denver asked the artist to create a monumental yet temporary work exploring the theme of the interconnectedness of the 35 nations that make up the Western Hemisphere. She drew inspiration from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory`s announcement that the February 2010 Chile earthquake shortened the length of the earth`s day by 1.26 microseconds by slightly redistributing the earth`s mass. A 3-dimensional form of the tsunami`s amplitude rippling across the Pacific became the basis for the sculptural form. Exploring further, Echelman drew on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) simulation of the earthquake`s ensuing tsunami, using the 3-dimensional form of the tsunami`s amplitude rippling across the Pacific as the basis for her sculptural form. The temporary nature of the Biennial and its accelerated timeline precluded the artist`s use of a permanent steel armature, as employed in her previous monumental permanent commissions. Instead, 1.26 pioneers a tensile support matrix of Spectra&reg; fiber, a material 15 times stronger than steel by weight. This low-impact, super-lightweight design makes it possible to temporarily attach the sculpture directly to the fa&ccedil;ade of buildings &ndash; a structural system that opens up a new trajectory for the artist`s work in urban airspace. The soft materials allow the artwork to be animated by the wind. Its fluidly moving form contrasts with the rigid surfaces of the surrounding urban architecture. At night, colored lighting transforms the work into a floating, luminous form while darkness conceals the support cables. A book about 1.26 includes an essay by Sanford Kwinter, Professor of Architectural Theory and Criticism at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, cofounder of the journal Zone and Zone Books, and author of Architectures of Time: Towards a Theory of the Event in Modernist Culture. To date, the 1.26 sculpture has been installed in 11 cities on 4 continents: Denver, Colorado (2010), Sydney, Australia (2011), Amsterdam, Netherlands (2013), Singapore (2014), Montreal, Canada (2015, 2016, 2017), Prague, Czech Republic (2015), Durham, UK (2015), Santiago, Chile (2016), Shanghai, China (2017), Chiayi, Taiwan (2018), and Hong Kong, China (2018). Courtesy of Studio Echelman.<a href="http://forecastpublicart.org/public-art-review/current-projects/2012/08/1-26/"></a>

Suspended between the Greek Theater and the Denver Art Museum

1.26 Denver

 Dream Catcher, Janet Echelman`s monumental sculpture for the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, transforms the open space between two buildings into a dynamic, translucent art installation. A group of suspended forms composed of colored fiber netting create a gently-moving, transparent sculpture nearly the height of the ten-story buildings. Echelman laces the artwork directly into the architecture of the two adjacent buildings and in doing so created forms new to her practice. The artwork`s inspiration stems from dreams and the idea of dreaming hotel guests asleep in the two buildings that cradle and support the sculpture. Her studio`s research into brainwave activity during periods of dreaming provided a data set from which they extrapolated the forms that constitute the artwork. Dreams are not only private experiences, they are also social and cultural ones. Dream Catcher is an apt title not only for how it speaks to the guests of the hotel, but to the larger region and its identity as a global epicenter for entertainment and media &ndash; the place where dreams are invented and pursued. Dream Catcher is constructed with four horizontal structural layers suspended between two hotel towers. Between these structural layers float colorful sculptural elements which combine both tensioned and draped forms. The specificity of the narrative to the site is matched by Dream Catcher`s unique response to the site`s formal parameters. The highly dynamic environment of the Sunset Strip, including the presence of soaring buildings, demands a work of equal rigor and commanding presence. With a height of 90 feet and a width of 70 feet, the sculpture provides a large visual presence, tempered by its translucency. The chromatic drama of Dream Catcher, particularly at night with its LED lighting design, offers a vibrant, illuminated visual field prominent both from Sunset Boulevard and locations south of the site. The four-tiered sculptural support system is composed of cables that are integrated seamlessly into the building floor plates and represent a highly collaborative, unified relationship between the artist and the architectural team. Courtesy of Studio Echelman. 

Dream Catcher

 Studio Echelman explores the cutting edge of sculpture, public art, and urban transformation. Assembled and led by internationally recognized sculptor Janet Echelman, the design team focuses on the development and creation of large-scale artworks. The design team spans the globe and includes architects, aeronautical and mechanical engineers, lighting designers, computer scientists, landscape architects, and fabricators. The permanent and temporary projects draw inspiration from ancient craft and combine technology to create living, breathing pieces that respond to the forces of nature. These sculpture environments embody local identity and invite people to form a personal and dynamic relationship with art and place. Embracing change is central to the meaning and physical manifestation of the art. Viewers experience artwork that is always changing, as the soft surfaces of fiber or mist sculptures are constantly billowing and adapting their shape in response to the ever-changing patterns of wind and sunlight. At night, the perceived color slowly changes through the addition of programmed projections of colored LED lighting. In daylight, viewers see the embedded physical color of the fiber material, which also changes gradually through time. Projects are designed according to the climate and intended lifespan for each site and context. Courtesy of Janet Echelman. 

Studio Echelman

 This project makes visible to the human eye the patterns of desert winds. During the day, sunlight projects patterned shadow drawings onto the ground and pedestrians on their daily paths. At night, the colored illumination gradually changes color through the seasons. The large three-dimensional multi-layered form is created by a combination of hand and machine knotting of recyclable high-tenacity colored polyester that is replaced in new color variations at intervals. 

Travelers share their opinions about the artwork about Janice Echelman's sculpture in the San Francisco Airport, <i>Every Beating Second</i>

Time lapse photography of the installation of the piece

 This is a video presented by Janet Echelman documenting the Art project in Dilworth Plaza currently under construction 

 Using color and material to invoke the memory of the site&rsquo;s history as a fishing and industrial center, this three-dimensional multi-layer net floats over the Cidade Salvador Plaza. This work is credited as the first permanent, monumental public sculpture to use an entirely soft and flexible set of membranes moving fluidly in wind. The work casts cinematic shadow drawings onto the ground further highlighting the &ldquo;wind choreography.&rdquo; The the city has made the sculpture its graphic symbol. When interviewed, local people give different interpretations of the work, from fishing nets, ships and masts of the Portuguese maritime history, the red-and-white striped smokestacks of the area&rsquo;s industrial past, to Portuguese lace, sea creatures, and ripples in water. 

Studio Echelman

PLAYLISTS CURATED by Studio Echelman

Podcasts