Gift of the Wind
Encyclopedia
Gift of the Wind is a large-scale public kinetic sculpture, by Susumu Shingu,http://susumushingu.com/en/index.html located in Porter Square
, Cambridge
, Massachusetts
at the Porter
, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
subway and commuter rail station. The art work consists of a tall white pole with three red "wings" attached to the top that are "designed to shift in response to the movement of the wind, not only turning clockwise and counterclockwise, but tumbling over and over in various sequences." It is considered by some to be "Cambridge's most visible landmark," but, in 2010, it was also one of the nominees for "Worst Public Art in New England
" by a regional art blog
.
program. This first of its kind program was devised to bring art into the MBTA's planned Northwest Extension of the Red Line
subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and became a model for similar drives for public art across the country. Gift of the Wind was one of 20 artworks created for this program, out of over 400 proposals submitted by artists for artworks spread out across five different newly created subway stations. The first 20 artworks, including this one, were completed with a total cost of $695,000 USD, or one-half of one percent of the total construction cost of the Red Line Northwest Extension.
Susumu Shingu designed and created his sculpture in tandem with Cambridge Seven Associates
, the designers of the Porter subway station, as they designed and constructed the station. Louis Bakanowsky, the founder of Cambridge Seven, states "(...) the challenge of modern sculpture is not the making of closed, volumetric objects. Instead, today's sculpture must deal with issues of space, movement and address a much wider set of references... [this work will] create a resonance between the viewer's own inner rhythms and those of the larger world of nature."
"Gift of the Wind" was originally planned to extend down into the subway station proper. When the work rotated due to the wind, a link, through a "large light shaft" would make a selection of hammers strike chimes in the station. This concept was later abandoned.
Porter Square
Porter Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts in the USA, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard and Davis Squares...
, Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
at the Porter
Porter (MBTA station)
Porter is a train station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue . It also serves portions of Somerville. The station was designed by Cambridge Seven Associates and opened on December 8, 1984. At 105 feet below ground, it is the...
, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...
subway and commuter rail station. The art work consists of a tall white pole with three red "wings" attached to the top that are "designed to shift in response to the movement of the wind, not only turning clockwise and counterclockwise, but tumbling over and over in various sequences." It is considered by some to be "Cambridge's most visible landmark," but, in 2010, it was also one of the nominees for "Worst Public Art in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
" by a regional art blog
Art blog
An art blog is a common type of blog that comments on art. More recently, as with other types of blogs, some art blogs have taken on 'web 2.0' social networking features...
.
History
Gift of the Wind was commissioned in 1983 and unveiled in 1985 as a part of the MBTA and the Cambridge Arts Council's Arts on the LineArts on the Line
Arts on the Line was a program devised to bring art into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 's subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Arts on the Line was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country...
program. This first of its kind program was devised to bring art into the MBTA's planned Northwest Extension of the Red Line
Red Line (MBTA)
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2...
subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and became a model for similar drives for public art across the country. Gift of the Wind was one of 20 artworks created for this program, out of over 400 proposals submitted by artists for artworks spread out across five different newly created subway stations. The first 20 artworks, including this one, were completed with a total cost of $695,000 USD, or one-half of one percent of the total construction cost of the Red Line Northwest Extension.
Susumu Shingu designed and created his sculpture in tandem with Cambridge Seven Associates
Cambridge Seven Associates
Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc. is an American architecture firm founded in 1962 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The firm was founded upon the idea that the collaborative efforts of a varied group of designers and architects would be far more effective than those of any one individual...
, the designers of the Porter subway station, as they designed and constructed the station. Louis Bakanowsky, the founder of Cambridge Seven, states "(...) the challenge of modern sculpture is not the making of closed, volumetric objects. Instead, today's sculpture must deal with issues of space, movement and address a much wider set of references... [this work will] create a resonance between the viewer's own inner rhythms and those of the larger world of nature."
"Gift of the Wind" was originally planned to extend down into the subway station proper. When the work rotated due to the wind, a link, through a "large light shaft" would make a selection of hammers strike chimes in the station. This concept was later abandoned.