I have chosen to work this project in a blog, collaboratively, because I want to share it with friends and contractors. It takes a team to create successful public art projects.

Idea Origins

The last public art project, Urban Cattails, was so large and heavy that most of it’s fabrication had to be outsourced to contractors with heavy equipment. This time we want a more hands-on project.

We’re still exploring our theme, “common forms in nature on a large scale.” But this time it will be “modular” to the extent that one person can assemble it without heavy equipment.

That’s how we landed on “Very Tall Grass.” It still has the visual impact of the cattails but with smaller lighter elements.

Materials

Currently, the lower stalks are 10′ tall 1/2″ conduit, the tubing used by electricians to run electrical wires.

The branches above the stalks are stainless steel rods; 1/4, 3/16, 5/32 and 1/8 inch rods.

The top of the rods are incased in 3d printed white PLA plastic with additional branching options, from which 1/16″ diameter stainless wire lead up to the seedpods, also made of white PLA.

Size

The sculpture is approximately 20′ tall and could be as tall as 24′ if desired.

The seedpods are 7″ tall by 3/8″ wide.

What’s Working

Through the process of trial-and-error and experimentation, we believe the current configuration will stand up to the elements in a northern climate. Time will tell.

When we land a commission for this project we will hire an engineer to determine if our structural methodology is sound. If not, we will make the appropriate improvements. One obvious improvement is to use stainless steel tubes instead of galvanized steel conduit.

The next task is to create an embedded LED lighting system that is programmable and sustainable. See next blog entry.