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Air Lines

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Air Lines

Air Lines

This prototype for a light fixture picks up where Carrara Serra left off translating the straight lines cut by water jet through marble into string lines suspended in air. As with Carrara Serra, the piece relies on the rotation of an ellipse as the basis for its form. Rotating a vertical array of seven elliptical layers at either 20-, 30-, or 40-degree increments yields three parts with string line patterns unique to each piece. Variety in profile, and reading of the piece is introduced through interchangeable stacking nature of the parts giving it a number of possible configurations allowing it to vary its overall appearance. As one moves around the piece, the outer profile comes alive constantly shifting in shape as string lines advance, overlap, and retreat. The gentle spiraling shape of the piece bears a formal similarity to a Solomonic column where light and air have been substituted for heavy masonry. Reading the piece as a column is further heightened by seeing the string lines as an interpretation of fluting and the change in profile width as entasis. A stable structure is achieved through the interaction of compressive struts at the center with string tension cables around the perimeter.