EARTHTIME KOREA, GWANGGYO, SOUTH KOREA, 2020
DESCRIPTION
Janet Echelman’s Earthtime Korea is the first permanent commission of her 1.26 Earthtime series, laced into the architecture above a public plaza in Alleyway Gwanggyo, South Korea.
The Earthtime sculptures seek to heighten our awareness about the way we are all interconnected with one another and our physical world. They explore the contrast between the forces we can understand and control with those we cannot, and the concerns of our daily existence within the larger cycles of time.
Echelman’s studio modeled the physical form for Earthtime Korea using a scientific data set about how a single geologic occurrence in one part of the world had ripple effects all over the world. They measured the change in wave heights of the ocean’s surface as they rippled across the entire Pacific Ocean following an earthquake which originated in Chile in 2010. Its form is a manifestation of interconnectedness – when any one element in the sculpture moves, every other element is affected. The earth’s day was shortened as a result of this physical event and the length of time measured in microseconds. Titles within the Earthtime series sometimes refer to that numerical measurement of time.
Echelman has long been inspired by Korean art and culture, including the decorative practice of Dancheong and Korean masterpieces of Buddhist painting. For this piece, she drew upon the stylized methods of using gradations of blues to depict clouds in traditional Korean temple paintings. As the sculpture will be seen with the sky as its canvas, it creates a dialogue with this aspect of Korean art history.
To create the sculptural form, Echelman worked with a team both inside and outside her studio. This includes architects, designers, and model-makers in our studio, and an external team of aeronautical and structural engineers, computer scientists, lighting designers, landscape architects, a fabrication team, and the Alleyway Gwanggyo team who helped bring the initial sketches into built reality that people can experience. The fabrication of the sculpture combines braiding fiber into twines and ropes. Twines are knotted both by loom and by hand, and the ropes are spliced entirely by hand using centuries-old craft techniques.
MATERIALS AND SIZE
Fiber and Sky combined with Colored Lighting. Fibers are braided with UHMWPE (Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) and PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene)
Dimensions of net: 113 ft. length x 89 ft. width x 27 ft. depth
Installation Dimensions: 172 ft. length x 159 ft. width x 48 ft. height
CREDITS
Art: Janet Echelman
Studio Echelman Team: Melissa Henry, Daniel Smith
Sculpture Engineering: SOM
Sculpture Installation: Tom McClain Design Services, Alleyway Gwanggyo
Lighting Design: Eonsld Lighting
Photography and Videography: Alleyway Gwanggyo
location
Alleyway Gwanggyo, South Korea
PRESS
