Solar Energy Sculptures Artists: Joan Webster Price and Herbert Price Image above:Solar Arch,maquette for a thermal hot water sculpture, copper, steel marble chips, 43 x 81 x 3 cm, 1997. Image below:Reflections on a Winter Solstice, maquette for a thermal hot water sculpture, stainless steel, glass pool, 31 x 76 x 76 cm, 1997. (Photos courtesy of the Rauma Art Museum) Artist's Statement:These solar energy sculptures represent the joining of a symbolic object and energy source. Just as Stonehenge served as both religious monument and astronomical observatory for the calculation of seasons, solar sculpture serves to objectify the aspirations of humanity to harness the sun's energy as well as to actually capture that energy.
One could cite from the earliest records the artists that have unified in work the values and ideals of their time, inspiring, instructing and functioning through art. Solar sculpture is the continuation of that tradition. It is a sculptural monument to the life-giving energy of the sun. Each who views it will carry away his/her own message---whether aesthetic, symbolic or functional. To reach its highest goal, solar sculpture will unify all three. The stainless-steel surfaces of our sculptures that are not involved with solar collection are intended to reflect the brilliance of sunlight. The pattern of light and shadow cast by the sculptural elements will be dramatic throughout the day. There will be a significant environmental space inside the arc of the sculpture for dance, poetry, performance, theater or environmental events. The precise angles of inclination of the elements in the final design will be determined by the geographic latitude of the installation and the need for the seasonal optimization of the capture of solar energy. The solar-collection components forming the planes inclined toward the sun can be of any type---for example, photovoltaic cells or hot water---without changing the configuration of the design. Joan Webster Price and Herbert Price, 35 Ridgewood Terrace, Maplewood, NJ 07040, U.S.A. E-mail:HJSTAR@aol.com Portions of this text appeared in the Ylem Newsletter [Vol. 14, No. 5, May 1994])
____________________________
| Aurinko Index | | Gallery Entrance | | Past Exhibitions | | Leonardo On-Line |