Earthtime 1.26 Prague, Czech Republic, 2015
DESCRIPTION
A monumental, floating form that pulses with the changing wind and weather, Janet Echelman’s Earthtime 1.26 sculpture invites you to pause, and contemplate a physical manifestation of interconnectedness of opposites – soft with hard, earth with sky, things we control with the forces beyond us.
The concept of the artwork stems from scientific data sets of the 2010 Chilean earthquake and tsunami, and the notion that we are all connected between the earth’s natural systems.
Studio Echelman generated the 3D form for the sculpture using NASA and NOAA data that measured the effects of the earthquake including tsunami wave heights across the oceanic expanse. The resulting vibrations momentarily sped up the earth’s rotation, shortening the length of the day by 1.26 micro-seconds, which became the catalyst for the 1.26 sculpture.
In Prague, Earthtime 1.26 was suspended over Jan Palach Square along the bank of the Vltava River and beside the Rudolfinum, home of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
To date, the Earthtime 1.26 sculpture has been installed in 15 cities on 4 continents: Denver, Colorado (2010), Sydney, Australia (2011), Amsterdam, Netherlands (2013), Singapore (2014), Montreal, Canada (2015, 2016, 2017), Prague, Czech Republic (2015), Durham, UK (2015), Santiago, Chile (2016), Shanghai, China (2017), Chiayi, Taiwan (2018), Hong Kong, China (2018), Geneva, Switzerland (2020), Munich, Germany (2021), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2021), and Milan, Italy (2022).
The sculpture is completely soft and constructed from soft, technical fibers, making it lightweight enough to lace directly into existing structures without extra reinforcement. Its billowing surfaces are animated by the wind, contrasting with the rigid surfaces of surrounding city architecture. At night, colored lighting transforms the work into a floating, luminous form.
MATERIALS AND SIZE
Spectra® Fiber, high-tenacity polyester fiber, and colored lighting
Dimensions of net: 80 ft. length x 60 ft. width x 30 ft. depth
Installation Dimensions: 250 ft. length x 150 ft. width x 50 ft. height
CREDITS
Art: Janet Echelman
Studio Echelman Project Manager: Melissa Henry
Design Engineer: Peter Heppel Associates (Paris)
Lighting Design: Signal Festival
Photography: Petr Hricko, Alexander Dobrovodsky, Janet Echelman
location
Jan Palach Square, Prague, Czech Republic