Helion, more informally known as 'the lollipop,' was created by Gloucester artist Robert Amory in 1975. The sculpture was originally installed in Downtown Crossing in front of 100 Summer Street, where it remained for almost 25 years. When the building was sold, its new owners requested that the lollipop be moved to a new home, despite the protests of Boston residents and art-lovers who claimed that it had become a Downtown Crossing landmark. This 26-foot tall kinetic sculpture is composed of twenty-four orange discs attached by metal rods to a large ball bearing. When the wind blows on the orange disks, the ball bearing spins, causing the disks to rotate. In order to ensure that his sculptures could endure Boston's strong gusts, Amory tested scaled-down models in a wind tunnel facility at MIT. This sculpture is part of Amory's 'windflowers' series and is named after the Greek god Helios, who, according to myth, drives the sun chariot from east to west across the sky each day. Courtesy of Boston Art Commission.
