Salmon Waves
Hiram Chittenden Locks
Seattle, WA
Funding Source: 4Culture of King County and Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
Installed in 2001, Salmon Waves is a permanent
sculpture installation at the Hiram Chittenden Locks in Seattle.
Funds were generated for the Percent
for Art Program by improvements to the Locks improving migration
of smolt salmon downstream through the locks and over the
spillway.
Salmon Waves celebrates the improvements made to the
Locks enhancing smolt migration. The swimming
fish are fleeting and transitory, so I generate images of swimming
smolt using a single row of LED lights and digital electronics.
The smolt migrate nocturnally, and the fish images are visible
only at night. There is a sense of mystery
about the lights -- even people who come to see them at night
sometimes need to be shown how to see the fish.
Over and above the issue of preserving salmon spawning runs, the issue of water quality is paramount. I wanted to make the point that water quality is what will ultimately determine the fate of the salmon. Another welcome coincidence is that the sound of the water crashing over the spillway provides the audio experience for the artwork.
I like to make a sculpture self-explanatory in some ways -- like the way it's put together. There are 3,000 screws holding the waves together. People are fascinated by their construction. You can see inside the waves through the holes and spaces between the metal sides. I wrote 3-D computer software to enable me to design the shapes and construct them.
I especially enjoyed drawing on the surface of the waves with a grinding pad, creating a watery texture that gives a three-dimensional appearance to the surface in sunlight. The stainless steel picks up color from the surrounding environment and changes constantly with the light and seasons.
