Looking Outwards 11 : A Focus on Women Practitioners

Janet Echelman is an artist who creates sculptures at an architectural scale. Her work consists of Architecture, Urban Design, Sculpture, Material Science, Structural & Aeronautical Engineering, and Computer Science. Echelman’s work has also been presented or permanently showcased all around the world. Janet Echelman uses materials such as atomized water particles and engineered fibers. With those materials, she utilizes computational design software and “ancient” craft. The Bending Arc is a monumental sculpture located on St. Petersburg in Florida. It consists of 1,662,528 knots and 180 miles of twine. The sculpture is also 424 feet wide and 72 feet tall. This piece finds its form through the choreography of the wind. The top of the Bending Arc actually looks like a landscape design that has a pentagonal pattern. Echelman was inspired by historical postcards, hence the blue and white colors. Depending on the wind, the form of the sculpture constantly changes. This art piece certainly goes along with her statement of how her art transforms with wind and light, from being “an object you look at, into an experience you can get lost in.”