CANOPY TOWER
JOHN GRADE
Austin Contemporary Museum,
Currently on view at the Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria
His first project in Texas, Grade, inspired by the wind blowing off the lake and through the many large, old trees that dot the site, has conceived a large-scale inverted tower, suspended from three trees on the lower grounds. This tower, assembled and carved from ipe wood, hangs off the ground high enough for a viewer to duck inside into quiet isolation, allowing for two separate experiences of the piece. While the sculpture is stationary on the bottom half, creating a sense of shelter, the top half is given the flexibility to move with the wind, juxtaposing the sheltering experience with the flux of a wind-driven moment.
