A Project of the Tucson Pima Arts Council

Desert O
by Joseph O'Connell
Sponsor: Tucson Pima Arts Council Board of Directors and Tucson Home Magazine/Madden Publishing
Nonprofit: Tucson Pima Arts Council

The shape of a circle means different things to different people. It can stand for cyclic return, self-sufficiency, continuous motion, or holistic peace. To some it might stand for a donut or a wheel. There is no one interpretation I am after. It just seems that the circle is under-represented in both the natural and artificial forms around the Tucson area. In the daytime, the shape, size, and method of construction will be the most apparent features of this sculpture. It is six feet in diameter. It has an internal stainless steel framework covered by tightly wrapped frosted acrylic pieces, each 1/2” to 3/4” thick, that have been softened in an oven before being tightly wrapped around the frame. It will pick up and diffuse surrounding colors in the daytime. At night, the acrylic becomes internally lit by a computer-controlled light show. An array of one-watt colored Luxeon stars inside the sculpture will change brightness to create long sequences of color changes and interactions. Luxeon stars, manufactured by Lumileds, are the brightest LED's in the world. In the one-watt size, they are available in red, red-orange, amber, green, cyan, two blues, and white. These colors are brighter and more saturated than those produced by a white LED through a filter. A number of examples are shown on the drawing.

Technical notes:

The internal frame will be welded out of stainless steel square tubing. (The frame will not be visible but will need to be waterproof.) The outer acrylic shell is durable, UV-resistant, and because it already has a sanded finish, scratches and graffiti can be repaired in the field by further sanding. The outer shell is not intended to be waterproof. Some water will pass through it and run down the stainless steel frame. The electronics will be waterproofed as well. I will make the device that creates the computer-controlled light show myself using a microcontroller that drives the LEDs with pulse-width-modulation to control their brightness and use the available power efficiently. I own a business that fabricates museum exhibits and does a lot of work with stainless steel, acrylic, and custom electronics. There are three possible locations for the solar collector, battery, and controller and the best one depends on the final site for the piece: 1) on the ground nearby in a welded stainless steel box, 2) built into the top of the structure, or 3) on the roof of a nearby structure if one is available.