Nimbus
Green Exchange Building
Chicago, IL
2012
Steel washers, ball chain
25' x 12' x 80'
“Nimbus” is fashioned out of 6,188 feet of ball chain, 1,573 washers, into 13 different sculptural elements. All these pieces work together to create a dynamic environment of light play between recycled industrial object and the light reflecting off the constantly changing surfaces. As one passes through the space different washers fall into and out of shine, creating a kind of twinkle.
It was our intent to activate the space between the first and second floor, reacting to and working with the existing architecture of recessed and protruding spaces. As if the sculptural elements were raining down from architectural clouds.
The use of recycled material was important to us. We hunted for and found a bounty of industrial repurposed washers that were donated to the Creative Reuse Warehouse. This innovative program locates and collects overruns, rejects and by-products that business and industry treat as "waste" and redistributes the materials as valuable educational and artistic resources appropriate for reuse. Once we got the washers we tumbled all 1573 of them to restore the silvery glint we were looking for.
