Client: Matanuska Susitna School District

Location: Wasilla, AK, United States

Completion date: 2016

Artwork budget: $47,000

Project Team

Artist

Daniel DeRoux

Artist

Robert Fletcher

Artist

Mike Vediner

Overview

Extremely bent and twisted 2×12 red oak with hollow wooden balls. 45' long. Do not attempt this without adult supervision.

Goals

The hope was to have the art compliment the interior architecture and be relevant and inspirational to the students. This was achieved through mimicking the undulating acoustic cloud baffles. The relevance to education and "life path" is made through the relationship of the bands and the balls.

Process

I had trouble finding a lathe large enough to turn the spheres until I contacted Robert Fletcher, in Juneau who did a great job of creating these 18" diameter beauties.

Additional Information

This is a brand new technology in the initial treatment of the wood that allows for the extreme manipulation of hardwoods. I know of only one other sculptor using this medium. It is very exciting to see what can be achieved.