The Illuminated Arcs: Skate Lines - A Group 5 Sculptures For the City of Mishawaka,
Ironworks Plaza Mishawaka, IN 2023
Stainless Steel, Glass and Programable LED Lighting 20' x 2' x 2'
The Illuminated Arcs: Skate Lines is a group of 5 sculptures created by James Brenner for Ironworks Plaza, a Parks and Recreation riverfront development project. “Pair”, “Skate”, “Spin”, “Slide” and the rooftop piece “Criss Cross” sculptures are all made in a similar manner to create a cohesive collection with a visual dialog between them.
The designs were inspired by the free, fluid feeling of ice skating and the graceful lines that skates leaves behind on the ice. These arcs, put in space, created sculptures that referenced different aspects of skating and perhaps the nature of relationships, how one arc interacts with the other.
The stainless-steel and glass sculptural forms are showcased during the day, while the night offers a dynamic expression of illuminated color. The Artist teamed up with Michael Cohen of Schuler Shook Lighting Design to create innovative “shows” that are integrated with the programmable fog garden, landscape and building lighting systems.
The 2023 Illuminated Arc are 5 sculptures created for Ironworks Plaza, a Parks and Recreation riverfront development located in the city of Mishawaka, Indiana. The project included a new Parks & Rec building with a restaurant, an amphitheater and a “state of the art” ice skating rink with pathways that encircled 3 landscaped islands and a central plaza area.
The overall design concept is inspired by the free feeling of skating and the arc lines that are drawn on the ice. The 5 sculptures expresses a different aspects of skating: “Pair” the 20' central piece with 2 arcs rapping around each other in relationship, “CrissCross” the 15' rooftop piece is an intersecting lines that bend in tension at a central point, “Skate” a 12' landscape island piece that expresses side to side skating movement, “Slide” 10' island piece is one arc swooshing sideways on the other, and finally “Spin” a 10' island piece made of two cured arcs that come together make a circular form.
For continuity, all the designs are made in the same way with the same materials, stainless steel rods and sculpted green float glass on the outside with a programable LED lighting system on the inside. The programable light system offers limitless possibilities for patterns of light movement and color.
