Greg Conyne and Wendy Armstrong have completed a commission for a public sculpture for a downtown plaza in the city of Vancouver, Washington. The challenge presented to the sculpture team was to use materials that started perhaps as someone’s vision of a better future or a not so elegant, but very serviceable piece of equipment that had become outdated or worn, and to turn these materials into a piece of sculpture that would have diverted rain water run over it, creating a fountain. The sculpture is located at Turtle Place.
Greg and Wendy used cast off materials from the Clark County Public Utilities (CPU), the local bus company (C-Tran), a local contractor (Bob Colf) and the department of the city in charge of the traffic signals. After taking a tour of the “bone yards” of these establishments they came up with a concept sketch, and they were on their way.
The frame or super structure is made from 3”x 2”, 2”x2” new steel and new bolts. As the piece is approximately 15’x8’x8’ and movable: the piece was made so that it could be disassembled and reassembled if the need arises. All of the rest of the sculpture is made up of pieces from the above-mentioned places. Transformers and insulators make up the majority of the features. Some are turned upside down, some cut so as to make the water flow over and around them in a variety of ways.