This Sculpture In Chicago Is Made From Over 3000 Hand Blown Glass Orbs

October 12, 2015

This Sculpture In Chicago Is Made Up Of Over 3,100 Hand Blown Glass Orbs

 

Artist Wolfgang Buttress, has completed Lucent, a new sculpture created as part of the lobby refurbishment of the iconic John Hancock Center in Chicago.

 

This Sculpture In Chicago Is Made Up Of Over 3,100 Hand Blown Glass Orbs

About the sculpture

Deriving its name from the Latin Lucere, meaning ‘to shine’, this sculptural installation is based on a star-map. The piece draws on celestial mapping research by astrophysicist Dr Daniel Bayliss at the Australian National University.

This Sculpture In Chicago Is Made Up Of Over 3,100 Hand Blown Glass Orbs

Lucent is a 4 meter-diameter hemisphere perforated with 3,115 holes representing stars visible with the naked eye from Earth’s Northern hemisphere. Fiber-optic cables emerge from each point, emitting a glowing ambient light.

This Sculpture In Chicago Is Made Up Of Over 3,100 Hand Blown Glass Orbs

Affixed to these points are hand-blown glass orbs that diffuse the light. These points are triangulated, creating delicate stainless steel filigree.

This Sculpture In Chicago Is Made Up Of Over 3,100 Hand Blown Glass Orbs

The Southern hemisphere is suggested in the ceiling reflection and a sense of infinity is implied by a double reflection set-up between the reflecting pool bellow and mirrored polished steel above.

This Sculpture In Chicago Is Made Up Of Over 3,100 Hand Blown Glass Orbs

Lucent was engineered and fabricated by Vector Custom Fabricating, and the 3,100+ glass orbs were hand blown by glass artists at Ignite Glass Studios.

This Sculpture In Chicago Is Made Up Of Over 3,100 Hand Blown Glass Orbs

‘I am interested in exploring the relationship between micro and macro scales and the connections between them. Some forms and phenomena occur across scales from the cosmic to the microscopic. We are all stardust. The use of scale can remind us of universality and wonder.’ – Wolfgang Buttress

This Sculpture In Chicago Is Made Up Of Over 3,100 Hand Blown Glass Orbs

Lighting Supplier: Universal Fibre Optics
Curator : Susan Aurinko
Photography by Mark Hadden Photography