Avalanche - Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh - 2009

The sculpture consists of an eight-foot diameter steel disk covered with a mixture of glass beads and garnet sand that can be spun by visitors. The perimeter of the steel disk is rolled inward to create a reservoir for the sand mixture. The avalanching sand naturally organizes into complex patterns of waves suggestive of turbulence in liquids. Viewers can control the speed of the rotating disk and thus increase or decrease the activity and turbulence of the avalanche.

 

 

Pebble Chime - Milwaukee Waterfront, Milwaukee, WI - 2006

A musical instrument played by dropping pebbles through a matrix of stainless steel nails embedded inside a perforated stainless steel structure. The leaf-shaped structure acts as a resonator to amplify the water-like sounds.

 

 

Subducted Landscapes - Chevron / Texaco Headquarters, San Ramon, California. 2002

A series of active geological "paintings" were installed in their lobby. Four "paintings", each depicting a different geological phenomenon, were set into the walls. The artworks consisted of a 6' wide by 7' tall panel filled with glass pigments and set in motion with compressed air. A computer slowly alters the air flow causing the landscapes to shift and change. Completed in 2002.

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Magnetic Field Stone - Exploratorium, San Francisco, California. 1996

Inspired by traditional Japanese basin stones, this artwork uses a rotating magnet to sculpt natural magnetite sand into ever-changing spiral patterns. Viewers can run their hands through the sand and alter the pattern. The artwork was a collaboration with stone mason, Edwin Hamilton.

 

 

Aeolian Landscape - Museum of Life and Science, Durham, North Carolina. 1993

A fan blowing over fine glass beads sculpts an everchanging landscape of dunes, cliffs and avalanches. Viewers can change the direction of the air and observe how the landscape is reshaped.

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Fluvial Storm - Exploratorium, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco. 1992

A large rotating glass vessel is filled with water and fine sand. The swirling water sculpts the sand into an elaborate pattern of underwater dunes. Quickly stopping or starting the rotation stirs the sand up into hurricane-like cloud.

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Sonic Range - Exploratorium, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco. 1992

Fine copper powder on a vibrating membrane behaves in complex ways evocative of plate tectonic motion and the liquification of sediments that occurs during earthquakes. Viewers can alter the pattern of miniature subduction zones, fault lines and eruptive geysers by changing the frequency and amplitude of the vibrations.