This sculpture, suspended from the ceiling on the third floor above the main entrance, was created in January of 1997 by Ed Carpenter at a total cost of $130,000.

Concept

"Rooted in the building and ascending with it toward the sunlight, this installation inspires to reinforce the architecture which adding a dynamic, lyrical element. As light symbolizes knowledge, both the sculpture and the library reach out to it. Like an exotic moth, or phototropic flower, the sculpture seeks the light. Sun plays off the glass and prisms casting slowly-moving strokes of light on the walls and ceiling. As clouds pass, the building breathes a luminous, colorful breath. Night lighting carries on the feeling and enlivens the space after dark, reinforcing its role as main axis of the library."

Materials

"Bent and fabricated aluminum pipes and fittings, tempered plate glass, dichroic glass, prisms, stainless steel cables and hardware."

Size

"Approximately 56' x 60' x 22'. Four pipes, 42', 25', 22', and 21' in length. Seventy-two cables ranging from 20' to 42' in length."

About the artist

"Ed Carpenter is the grandson of a painter/sculptor and step-son of architect Robert Alexander. He worked in the Neutra and Alexander office as a teenager. He studied architectural glass design in England and in Germany on a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Study in the Fine Arts. Since 1972, he has completed more than forty large scale collaborative art commissions including installations in the Hult Center for Performing Arts in Eugene, Oregon; the Justice Center in Portland, Oregon; and the Anchorage Alaska Performing Arts Center. His recent works include a 60' stainless steel glass monument for City Hall Plaza in Orlando, Florida, university projects in Wisconsin, Colorado, Washington, Utah and Minnesota, a pedestrian bridge in Phoenix, Arizona, glazing for a new Federal Building in Oakland, California and 500 feet of sculptural glass treatment for the Miami International Airport. He lives with his wife, a musician, and children in the Coast Range mountains west of Portland, Oregon."