A Project of the Tucson Pima Arts Council

Opticus Prime
by Lupiani & Muren
Sponsor: Tucson Originals
Nonprofit: Tucson Originals

Our idea is to fabricate an Agave form of fiberglass parts. It will power itself using the solar micro power plant offered by TEP. The merits of fiberglass are the lightweight of the finished sculpture and its durability to the elements.

The nucleus of the form will be a fiberglass airplane nose cone, containing the battery and charge controller. Circling the base of the cone are petals, of a salvaged fiberglass satellite dish, attached with their pointed tips fanning out four to six feet tall. There will be a panel built into the cone to allow for access. Single red LED accent lights at the base of each petal will give a gentle glow to the base of the sculpture. Three white LED multibulbs will be embedded into the side of the cone to backlight the leaves. The petals will receive a treatment of grinding and airbrushing to vary the translucence of the backlighting, and also of the sunlight

Rising from the top of the cone there will be three 8 ft tentacles. One of these will branch out to hold the solar panel, and other two will contain an independent solar landscape light that serves as a beacon but also balances the form of the panels. These stalks will fabricated of an epoxy saturated fiberglass mat laid over a clear flexible hose. There is also a light pink tint to be added to give color and create the effect of the whole shaft glowing. These hollow forms will be internally illuminated using LED rope lights built into the shaft. These will be attached to the cone with flange system that will have hidden bolts to allow for disassembly, while maintaining the aesthetics.

During daylight hours the sculpture will be illuminated by the sun coming through the translucent areas in the fiberglass and in the night the under lighting of the petals and the illuminated tentacles will bring life to the surrounding area.