The kinetic sculpture “#Air Pressure” will be up at Brookfield Place’s Winter Garden until Sept. 12.
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Dozens of blue, bird-like shapes are soaring above the palm trees of the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, but you have to pay attention to see what makes them special.
In the hustle and bustle of the atrium, one might not notice at first that their wings are in motion — all at different speeds and intervals — unless you really take time to look, like 6-year-old Malak Ali did as she cuddled with her mother and sister on a bench far below.
“How are they moving?” she asked her mom, pointing up at them.
The answer is in the name of the art installation commissioned by Arts Brookfield from Toronto-based art collective Studio F Minus — it’s called “#Air Pressure.”
Each of the more than 175 inflatable birds — fashioned in various shades of royal, cobalt, and sky blue — is connected via a translucent plastic tube to separate, tiny fans above the complex kinetic sculpture, which are switched on and off individually at different intervals by timers. The periodic change in air pressure makes each bird slowly flap its wings.
Claddis Arrington watched the two-day installation over June 25–26 and marveled at the engineering as well as the artistry. He returned to the Winter Garden last weekend to enjoy the smooth, naturalistic motion of the birds, saying that it reminded him of watching gulls at the seashore.
“This is like looking at the ocean,” Arrington said. “It’s kind of soothing — very peaceful.”
Studio F Minus said that #Air Pressure also has an ecological message.
“Inflatable sculptures depend on constant airflow to maintain their form and structure,” said the art collective on its website. “This relationship parallels our own dependence on clean air.”
The installation will be up until Sept. 12.
