Wind Sketch


Wind Sketch (2013) by Ned Kahn

About the artwork

Ned Kahn creates artworks that visualize the invisible forces of nature such as, for instance, the movement of the air when there is wind, which can bring small metal discs into motion. The author qualifies these artworks as 'detectors', since they work in a similar way as detectors in electronic telescopes and other scientific instruments that translate the effects of invisible forces visually. The unseen patterns of wind are complex and enchanting. The psychological effect is the same as when observing fire, or waves on the water surface, or high grasses moving with the wind. The sizzling sculpture captures the wind and sunlight and is installed at the rear of the Zebrastraat site, opening onto the atrium of New Zebra.

One of the paradoxical properties of some of the more recent wind sculptures is that they show more as one observes them from a greater distance, since the individually moving disks so to say merge together and show the hidden patterns of the wind.
The artwork is completely powered by the wind. The sunlight, the clouds, the surrounding buildings or the nightly illumination are reflected by the disks that move under the influence of the air, and the artwork is thus basically a continuation of the sky.

It is the intention of the artist to create a work that permanently changes, from day to day, with the seasons, and that is inextricably linked to the atmosphere, invisible substance that allows all life, including our own. The pixel-like structure of the wind powered surface is also a reference to high-tech computer animation, although the technology is very simple, and really just involves a set of cables and plates.

About the artist

image Ned Kahn, ° 1960, Connecticut, United States
Lives and works in Sebastopol, California, United States - www.nedkahn.com

Education:
1982: B.A., Environmental Studies, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States

For more than twenty years Ned Kahn has been creating large outdoor artworks, aiming to increase public awareness of natural phenomena around us. By using 'materials' such as water, wind, fog and light, he creates soothing oasis in an urban environment, where man can experience links with the strong forces of nature. It is the intention of the artist to blur boundaries between art, science, architecture and nature.

His monumental installations can be seen on almost all continents including Australia, United States, Singapore, the Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and Germany.

Zebrastraat - Permanent artworks - Wind Sketch by Ned Kahn