Time and place are united in Zephyr, as its dynamic form points to the site’s history as the location of a former rail line. In conceiving this project, “One of the things that popped up was the Burlington Zephyr, which was arguably the first successful streamliner train,” the artists said. “It set a speed record in 1934, running from Chicago to Denver, and it went right through the site on the rail lines that were extracted and removed from the site for this project to be done. We thought it would be great to bring back the train to this unassuming but historic place.”
The work captures the energetic feeling of a train whooshing through space and time as the metal swoops out, taking on the form of a train craning around a corner. Speaking about its creation the artists said “We think about time and speed and your place in that relationship. The object is actually a sundial.” The sidewalk below the towering sculpture has been marked to correspond to the sculpture’s shadowy path as the day wears on.
Images by Wes Magyar