Art Installations
Gallery of recent work:
End of Signature / Agnieszka Kurant
The AI generated compilation of thousands of signatures is suspended over 90’ off the MIT Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA. The sectional steel frame is hung from large diameter pipes connected to the ceiling of the building E48. Light boxes and supporting hardware were then attached to the front of the frame. The LED lights turn on smoothly from left to right building out of the light boxes and giving the impression of a signature being completely written in black ink.
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Approach / Karyn Olivier
This large two-part sculpture is comprised of suspended aluminum rings and discs from the ceiling of Terminal A, Liberty Airport Newark NJ. Each piece shows the vivid landscape around the Port Terminal in both day and night scenes. Both pieces are suspended from large mirror finished headers. The headers were hoisted 60’ to the ceiling of the atrium with electric winches, where final connections were made to pre-installed beam clamps in the ceiling. The rings were hung from these cables in sections at various height.
Moving Chains / Charles Gaines
This monumental piece by Charles Gaines was first prototyped and tested in a warehouse in NJ and then installed on Governor’s Island NYC. The nine chains with their 18” chain links were threaded through the piece and pulled together to be welded at height. They were then tensioned by pulling the axles into place. Finally, the piece was finished in sapele clad frames and ramps for interior access. Moving Chains is 18’ high and over 110’ in length.
Needle Threading Button / Garment District of NY
This replacement of the iconic “Needle Threading Button” on 7th Ave in Manhattan was installed in sections. The lower “supporting threads” were connected to permanent dunnage below the plaza and aligned at height using a template that represented the connection points on the button. A graceful and open piece, NTB needed balance and a light touch to connect all of the various components.
Understanding / Martin Creed – Brooklyn Bridge Park
UNDERSTANDING was installed as a free standing piece. Originally designed to be permanently installed, UNDERSTANDING was placed on an elevated scalable plinth for this showing. Inside the plinth were over 60,000 lbs of concrete blocks to act as counter weight. The 50’ horizontal beam rotates slowly by a gear reduction motor based in the vertical mast. The 10’ high letters encase canes of neon lighting.
Oracle / Sanford Biggers – Rockefeller Center
Oracle a 30,000 lb bronze sculpture made up of four pieces. It is supported by a steel spread frame then surrounded by a plywood plinth. A temporary installation at the moment, Oracle is well suited for travel.
The Hive / Elmgreen & Dragset – Moynihan Train Hall
The Hive is a permanent installation in the recently renovated Moynihan Train Hall, 30th Street Atrium NYC. 96 buildings hang from aluminum plates which are attached to a multi-level frame secured to the building girders. At over 40’ in the air this project presented many challenges with access and hoisting the buildings into place. A custom hoist system was designed and fabricated to allow handlers, positioned above the plate, to lift each building securely into place.
Van Gogh’s Ear / Elmgreen & Dragset – Rockefeller Center
An installation of a 30’ fiberglass pool set on its rim vertically. An internal steel frame is attached to a poured concrete foundation to counter balance the sail effect of the piece. At 16’ wide Van Gogh’s Ear was shipped upside down on a pallet from Poland into the middle of Manhattan.
What My Dad Gave Me / Chris Burden
A very large stand up with no onsite assembly required other than bolting to a concrete base, Skyscraper still had its challenges. At 65’ tall and 10’ square at the base the piece is fabricated completely out of Erector Set truss. Unable to support itself while going horizontal, the piece was shipped in a special lifting frame that supported the piece. Once horizontal a side of the frame had to be removed. Two cranes were required for this procedure.
Seated Ballerina / Jeff Koons – Rockefeller Center
Placed on top of a 10’ high scaffolding plinth. Seated Ballerina is a 45’ inflatable piece. Cabling to four points surrounding the piece as well as securing it to the base allowed it to withstand sustained wind loads.
Split Rocker / Jeff Koons – Rockefeller Center
Split Rocker is a 38’ tall piece made in the half sections of a toy pony and dinosaur. The outer halves are made up of a total of 492 connected stainless steel boxes filled with growing medium and covered with a permeable mesh. Each box contains micro irrigation tubing connected to a processor inside the piece that monitors the water and nutrient needs of the over 50,000 flowering annuals installed under the direction and plans of the artist.
Berlin Wall Sections
We have moved more sections of the Berlin Wall than any other company in North America. They present a unique challenge because they are comprised of very brittle low-grade concrete, built quickly and to be installed as designed. Most of the sections have murals on the faces that can not be touched. We move them with our custom rigging and have set them in both interior and exterior locations. Our most challenging install involved the use of Mod Truss in a tower lobby off of 5th Ave and a video is featured on their website.
Good Fences Make good Neighbors / Ai WeiWei – Cooper Union, Bowery & Chrystie Street
These fences, along with custom mounting brackets, were fabricated in our shop and installed around lower Manhattan. The largest sections at Cooper Union (a NYC Landmark), used 24 unique clamps based on precise surface scans of the irregular hand hewn stone. As a Landmark building the actual pieces and clamps were not allowed to come in direct contact with the iconic red limestone columns.
“Circle of Animals / Zodiak Heads” / Ai Weiwei
Installed in the Pulitzer Fountain to launch their world tour, 12 bronze pieces were placed on top of round carved marble bases. Each figure was held in place with custom brackets to avoid any movement once the water was refilled to cover them.
Masks / Thomas Houseago
Five extremely fragile plaster, steel and hemp masks join together to make a free standing piece. Visitors to the piece are encouraged to enter the completed piece for a view of the surroundings outside the space. Masks rest on a raft of four layers of reclaimed redwood timbers. The over 15’ high masks were transported in frame cases across the county, slowly.
Human Nature / Ugo Rondinone
Nine stacked stone figures make up the installation of Human Nature. With a height ranging from 16 to 21 feet they average a weight of 25-30,000 lbs each. Each leg rests on a riser which is connected to a steel plate that is 1.5” by 8’ by 12’. The entire area around the nine figures was then poured with concrete to create a seamless and monolithic plaza.
New York Clearing / Antony Gormley – Brooklyn Bridge Park
NYC Clearing was fabricated on a pier using over 9 miles of 1×1” square aluminum tubing. Bending jigs were assembled on site to coil the tubing into bundles which were then erected individually. Each bundle had to be accurately positioned, compression accounted for, and placed in a specific orientation. All 52 bundles were connected to one another using a variety of techniques making the entire piece one continuous tube with no two bundles parallel.
Ureaus / Anselm Kiefer – Rockefeller Center
A 34’ wing set is supported on top of a 15’ pillar. Uraeus is constructed out of steel and lead. Surrounding the center structure are 35 lead leafed books of various sizes with a combined weight of over 10,000 lbs. The books were dropped in place at the direction of the artist from pallets off of a telehandler.
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