KENWOOD — Three new sculptures that look like a cloud of paper caught in a sudden gust have appeared on the south lakefront trail.
The Chicago Park District is finishing installation of three new bright white aluminum sculptures by Alice Aycock on the lakefront between 46th and 48th streets.
“The sculptural assemblages suggest waves, wind turbulence, turbines and vortexes of energy,” Aycock said in statement through the Galerie Thomas Sculte.
Aycock said she wants the work to feel almost haphazard, falling over itself and piling up.
Though the sculptures seem very much at home a buffeted by gales next to the crashing waves of Lake Michigan, they were originally designed to speak to the tireless churn of people in New York.
Aycock designed the sculptures to reflect the force of the wind blasting down the canyon of buildings along Park Avenue between 52nd and 57th streets in Manhattan.
“I tried to visualize the movement of wind energy as it flowed up and down the avenue creating random whirlpools, touching down here and there and sometimes forming dynamic three-dimensional massing of forms,” Aycock said.
Originally designed as a set of seven works, the series has been broken up since leaving New York on July 20.
Aycock is loaning the two “Twin Vortexes” pieces and “Spin the Spin” to the city for free for the next year.
The project is part of a effort by the Park District, the mayor’s office and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events to bring public art to the city. The Park District is investing $120,000 to bring the work to the city and install it in parks and along the lakefront.
Indira Johnson’s “Ten Thousand Ripples” installations were installed in Lincoln Park on Aug. 20 as part of the initiative.
Other recent works include Robert Lobe’s “Nature’s Clock” on the museum campus and at Diversey Harbor, and an untitled work by Christopher Wool at Buckingham Plaza.
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