Lifestyle
Ned Kahn “Wind Fins” at Walnut Creek
Ned Kahn “Wind Fins” at NM Walnut Creek
Neiman Marcus opens its 42nd store in Walnut Creek, CA on March 9. Above the entryway, an extraordinary kinetic sculpture by Ned Kahn dramatically reflects the sunlight and engages the wind. The piece looks like it is alive — breathing and dancing in response to the natural environment. Titled “Wind Fins”, the piece was commissioned especially for the store. It measures approximately 30’ tall by 40’ wide and is comprised of 700 fins, each 3’ long by 6’ tall by 1/16” thick. The fins are made from perforated aluminum which allows them to undulate easily in the wind.
Bay Area-based Kahn is internationally renown for his projects involving wind, as well as water, fog, firelight and sand. Educated in both science art, Kahn began experimenting with wind as a sculptural element in the late eighties. Today his studio continues to be filled with prototypes that test different materials for their aesthetic and structural possibilities in the elements.
Ned Kahn “Wind Fins” at NM Walnut Creek
The piece for Walnut Creek was an interesting challenge. Behind the fins are windows rather than a solid wall. The goal was to allow light to filter through the windows whether the piece was at rest or activated by the wind. Kahn designed the fins to attach onto angled hinges so the light could pass freely between them. The fins are attached perpendicular to the building structure rather than parallel to fulfill the light requirements. Because of the nominal weight of the aluminum and its’ perforated surface, light is captured in beautiful, complex patterns. Kahn calls the effect “mind-blowing.”
Kahn spoke of the piece as a kind of botany, a living system. He notes the edges in nature are complicated and undefined whereas in architecture they are rigid and defined. In his work, the light and movement “dematerialize the edges,” breaking the solidity of the building and the structural part of the artwork, until there is simply a fluid visual sensation.
Kahn was born in 1960 in New York and graduated from the University of Connecticut. He is the recipient of numerous awards including two National Science Foundation awards and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. He has exhibited and lectured widely. Kahn has completed over forty public commissions worldwide with upcoming projects in Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
