Six immense, swirling, fabric forms will be suspended from the top of the ten-story Winter Garden in Lower Manhattan, as part of the U.S. premiere of Soft Spin, an art and music installation. The fluttering fabrics will be on display for several months, beginning March 26th, and follow a recent lighting installation that turned the Winter Garden into a kaleidoscope of color.
The fluttering fabrics are reminiscent of billowing skirts, if you know of any skirts as large as 94-feet. Boasting a range of bold spring colors like turquoise, pink, and green, Soft Spin offers a stunning contrast to the Winter Garden’s glass frame and architectural lines.
The artwork is by acclaimed Canadian artist Heather Nicol, commisioned by Brookfield Place, the Toronto-based real estate company which operates Winter Garden and is turning it into a prime shopping, dining, and cultural destination.
Mirroring the choral tradition of call and response, five of the sculptures will hang near the atrium’s wall overlooking the Hudson River, while one will tower above the Winter Garden’s grand marble staircase.
See a preview here:
Complementing the Winter Garden’s majesty, the enormous sculptures range in height from 22- to 28-feet high, with some consisting of almost 165 yards of fabric. Overall, more than 750 yards of industrial and domestic textiles were used to create the installation.
I’m comparing this billowing fabric concept to Christo’s wrapping of much of Central Park with his Gates project a few years ago, although that did not have a sound system attached.
Artist Heather Nicol has created site-specific installations for major public and private venues throughout the world, including Brookfield Place Toronto, the Great Hall at Toronto’s Union Station, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as venues in France and Germany, to “repurpose” public locations.
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