Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 2013.
Chromatic Spin, an un-built artwork proposed for downtown Nashville, was
conceived for its site’s dynamics as a roundabout experienced through
motion. Sculptural forms on the ground plane create a visual vortex that
focuses attention in and then up, similar to how the self-perpetuating myth of
Nashville draws artists in and then propels them up. A low circular landform
of dark pebbles recalls vinyl records. Its stacked terraces are retained by
metal edging, metaphorically separating the “tracks” on the record. This sets
the stage for three spiraling earthworks inspired by op art record labels.
These wrap around a central tower, the spindle to the landform’s turntable.
The tower is clad in a tapestry of thousands of stainless steel and translucent
guitar picks attached to an internal structure of ribs with graduated spacing
similar to that of guitar frets. At night the tower becomes a chromoscope as
RGB LED floodlights shoot up its chamber, saturating the guitar picks with
vivid rainbow hues and creating a dialogue with the black landscape. The
berms create a conceal-and-reveal effect of the central stage as motorists
drive around the roundabout, resulting in what is imagined to be an
optical/spatial/perceptual experience.