Her Secret Is Patience
| Her Secret Is Patience | |
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| Artist | Janet Echelman |
| Year | 2009 |
| Type | High-tenacity Polyester |
| Location | Phoenix Civic Space Park, Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
Her Secret Is Patience is a public art sculpture commission designed by artist Janet Echelman for the city of Phoenix. Its creation was the result of collaboration between the artist and a team of award-winning engineers, architects, planners, and fabricators. It is located downtown in the Civic Space Park across from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. The sculpture consists of painted, galvanized steel; polyester twine netting; and colored lights. The piece cost $2.5 million. The title of the piece is a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson and during construction it was unofficially titled Sky Bloom.
The netting is 38 ft off the ground and 100 ft. tall and the three support poles are 102 ft, 125 ft. and 145 ft. tall. The netting is designed to show the movements of the wind. Its shape reflects Arizona's enormous cumulus clouds, and the colors were inspired by the blossoms of the cereus cactus which are found in the region.
The initial design process began with the creation of a three-dimensional computer model created using custom software. Those forms were then translated into CAD software in order to define the geometry and surfaces of the sculpture. These digital structures were then exported to a gravity and wind simulator in order to determine the necessary twine tenacity to withstand the desert winds. From this information, construction drawings were created which include specific looming patterns, color information, and lengths of meshes.
The fabrication process involved several North American factories specializing in hand-craftsmanship. There are several layers of nets in the sculpture. The main body of colored net including the "wormhole" at the center, a structural net, which helps give the primary net its shape, and a cover net. The edge of every mesh is a different length, requiring the use of manual splicing on each joint. The two shortest steel support towers were shipped to the site complete; the third tower was shipped in halves, which were assembled and welded on-site. The suspension rings were created by a manufacturer specializing in fabricating roller coaster equipment. The rings hang concentrically 100 ft above the ground and are bound together with 1 in. diameter steel cable. The rings are secured to the base of each support tower with tie-down cables, which provide structural stability against strong winds and minimize ring movement.
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