 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Crossroads 2007 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As a city and as a community, Rockville has embraced its past as well as its future and has emerged as a catalyst for change in the region. With a vital and important history and a vision of development and progress Rockville is poised to embrace the future, as exemplified by the new Rockville Town Square. Rockville is and has always been an important crossroads. In its earliest days Rockville became the stopover where north-south paths from the Susquehanna River Valley to Rock Creek crossed the east-west trail from Anacostia to the Potomac. Situated on the “Great Road” between Frederick and Georgetown, Rockville became a transportation hub, and eventually a place where travelers settled and a town emerged. The Rockville of today still represents a great crossroads of not only geography, but also as the center point of a vibrant economy, an internationally diverse population, the municipal and civic leadership of Montgomery County and a vital cultural and educational learning center. These various crossroads best describe Rockville, and my proposed site-specific neon light sculpture captures the spirit, significance and vision that are Rockville today. With an approach that is a literal and figurative interpretation of these ideas, Crossroads illuminates what is unique about the new Rockville Town Square, and project a vision of Rockville's future. Light as a medium has a contradictory nature, it exists somewhere between tangible and intangible, substantial and insubstantial. It is this contradictory nature of light that draws viewers in, captivates them and ignites their imagination, qualities that will most significantly enhance the new Rockville Town Square. Inspired by Rockville's past and present, Crossroads will become a symbol of the optimism and growth of Rockville's future. Crossroads captures my vision of Rockville. Mounted above the crossroads in the center of Rockville, the sweeping, dramatic three-dimensional aluminum and neon light evoke a modern sensibility. The glowing neon lines and colored volumes of light reflect off of the existing architecture, injecting the landscape both day and night with energy, evoking Rockville's pioneering spirit in the technology and scientific fields. Just as Rockville Town Square is an important a destination -- a gathering place of cultural, communal and residential significance, my own public artwork has sought to similarly mark a location with importance and significance. Local examples of my work include Lightweb in the new downtown Silver Spring, and an untitled site-specific work at The Arlington Art Center in Arlington, VA. These works have garnered much attention and enthusiasm in their own right, but they also are as significant enhancements to the architecture and the community, because they distinguish each location as unique. These communities are enhanced and ‘enlightened' by the integration of artwork unique in character and presence. My Crossroads light sculpture distinguishs Rockville Town Square and greater Rockville as a premier destination, a community gathering place of civic pride, and a place that projects the energy, vitality, and dialogue for the promise of Rockville's future.
18' H x 35' W x 6' D |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Click images to Enlarge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
