Cool Fog

Fog Sculpture rendering in Olmsted Park over an island on Leverett Pond, Brookline, Massachusetts

To celebrate the 20^thanniversary of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya will exhibit five fog works along the historic urban parks that link more than a dozen Boston neighborhoods.

Fujiko Nakaya. Photo courtesy of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy

Nakaya is the daughter of the physicist and science essayist Ukichiro Nakaya, renowned for his work in glaciology and snow crystal photography. Like her father, Ms. Nakaya’s lifelong artistic investigation engages the element of water and instills a sense of wonder in everyday weather phenomena.

Working as part of the legendary group Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), she first enshrouded the Pepsi Pavilion at the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka in vaporous fog, becoming the first artist to create a sculptural fog environment.

Pepsi Pavilion Osada Japan Photo by Fujiko Nakaya

For the last forty years Nakaya has been partnering with Thomas Mee, a Los Angeles-based engineer.  Mee figured out a system for generating water-based artificial fog. To make it work the installation uses a special fog system that included high-pressure pumps and specifically designed fog nozzles. Several outside factors, like wind conditions, temperature and relative humidity in the environment, determined how intense or thick the fog would be at any given time.

Nakaya has established many other fog installations at galleries worldwide, including the Australian National Gallery, Canberra and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Photo by Phillip Maiwald

Here are two views of the Cloud Parking by Nakaya located in Linz, Australia – by day and at night:

Daytime photo of Cloud Parking by Fujiko Nakaya

Night View of Cloud Parking

Veil: The Glass House fog installation by Fujiko Nakaya in New Canaan, Connecticut Photo: theglasshouse.org

In Veil – shown above, Nakaya has wrapped the Glass House or Johnson House in a veil of dense mist that comes and goes. For approximately 10 to 15 minutes each hour, the Glass House will appear to vanish, only to return as the fog dissipates. Inside the structure, the sense of being outdoors will be temporarily suspended during the misty spells.

The 85-year-old artist describes her work as a “conversation with nature,”  creating shape-shifting, cloud-like, pure water forms that rhythmically appear and dissipate, inviting visitors to immerse themselves in the art while experiencing the landscape anew.

 

The Massachusetts Sacrifice

In 1861 in answer to President Lincoln’s call, Boston Irishman Thomas Cass began recruiting Irish immigrants to form the Massachusetts 9th regiment.  The volunteers came largely from Boston and the nearby towns of Salem, Milford, Marlboro and Stoughton. A total of 1,727 men enlisted. They came to be called the “Fighting Ninth” serving for three years in campaigns in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania and in forty two engagements.

Massachusetts Union Soldiers Credit: Library of Congress

The Irish volunteers encamped on Long Island in Boston Harbor through May, and on June 11, 1861 the Regiment was mustered into service. On 30 June 1861, the unit arrived in the Washington, D.C. vicinity and was welcomed by President Lincoln. They remained in the vicinity of Arlington, Virginia performing picket duty and built a fort on the Potomac River called Fort Cass after their commanding officer.

Irish American 9th regiment with their chaplain celebrating mass. Credit: Library of Congress

Colonel Cass fell in the Battle of Malvern Hill near the city of Richmond. The unit’s casualties were very heavy; along with losing their two top commanders, roughly half the regiment was put out of action, totaling 166 men. Colonel Cass died in Boston Massachusetts on 12 July 1862 and was buried with full military honors at Mt Auburn cemetery. A statue of Colonel Cass shown below stands on the south side of the Boston Public Garden.

Statue by Richard Edwin Brooks. Photo by Pmcyclist

The Ninth took its place in the newly formed Army of Virginia under the command of General John Pope participating in the 2^nd Battle of Bull Run, Antietam Creek, the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Union soldiers flying Irish Brigade Flag – Civil War print by Don Trolani

It was at the Battle of Gettysburg that the 9^th was assigned to hold the strategically important position of Big Round Top until additional Union reinforcement arrived. With the help of substantial stone breastworks, the regiment successfully withstood several assaults by the Confederate Army, taking casualties of 26 killed, wounded, or missing.

Gettysburg monument to the 9th Massachusetts Volunteers who brought 474 men to the field.

The 9^th also participated in the Battle of the Wilderness suffering casualties of 138 men. After three years of service the 9^th returned to Boston. Following a welcoming parade and banquet at Faneuil Hall, the men mustered out in a ceremony on Boston Common in 1864 and the regiment was disbanded.

 

Looking Skyward for Optimism

“As If It Were Already Here” sculpture for Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway by Janet Echelman

Making sculpture to visually knit together the fabric of the city Janet Echelman’s art is made by hand-splicing rope and knotting polyester twine into an interconnected mesh with more than a half-million nodes. Monumental in scale and strength, yet delicate as lace, her sculpture responds to ever-changing wind and weather. The sculpture is completely soft and constructed from highly technical fibers that are 15 times stronger than steel yet incredibly lightweight and resilient. By day the artwork blends with the sky. At night colored lighting transforms the work into a floating, luminous beacon.

Night shot of “As If It Were Already Here” sculpture by Janet Echelman

The artwork incorporates dynamic light elements which reflect the changing effects of wind. Sensors around the installation register fiber movement and tension and direct the color of the lights projected onto the sculpture’s surface.

Asked to express the spirit of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s work and mission in a sculpture, and to create a heart for their new global campus in downtown Seattle, Janet Echelman created “Impatient Optimist.”

“Impatient Optimist” Seattle, 2015 by Janet Echelman

Night shot of “Impatient Optimist”, Seattle 2015. Sculpture by Janet Echelman

“1.26” is a travelling sculpture about the interconnectedness of our world. It has been installed in 5 cities and 4 continents. Originally commissioned in 2010 for Denver, CO it then traveled to Sydney Australia in 2011, then in Amsterdam in 2013 and on to Singapore in 2014. Shown below in Montreal.

“1.26” sculpture by Janet Echelman

It takes a crew of construction workers and structural engineers plus the cooperation of host city to install one of Echelman’s creations.   Here’s a time-lapse video of the Boston installation:”

Boston installation rising above the Rose Kennedy Greenway.