Art: ball nogues: cradle installation in santa monica

ball nogues: cradle installation in santa monica



'cradle' on the wall of a santa monica parking structure (– originally designed by frank gehry)


LA-based collaborative design and fabrication studio ball nogues just finished their
most recent public art proposal. the project consists of a sculpture situated on the
exterior wall of an existing parking structure at santa monica place - originally designed
by frank gehry - near the beach and third street promenade. the site is heavily trafficked
by tourists on foot and in automobiles. named 'cradle', the permanent artwork was installed on
tuesday, july 27, 2010. it measures 39 ft. wide and 36 ft. high.

the piece is an aggregation of mirror polished stainless steel spheres and operates structurally
like an enormous newton’s cradle (the ubiquitous toy found on the desktops of corporate executives).
each ball is suspended by a cable from a point on the wall and locked in position by a combination
of gravity and neighboring balls.



detail of polished stainless steel spheres


through their work, benjamin ball (b. 1968, waterloo, iowa) and gaston nogues
(b. 1968, buenos aires, argentina) explore the intersection of digital methods with
physical reality.



stainless steel spheres



stainless steel spheres



gaston nogues puts hands on the stainless steel spheres installation under construction



stainless steel spheres




drawing
courtesy ball and nogues



construction process



construction process



construction process

benjamin ball showing a tiny model of the formwork in front of the 'cradle' in santa monica under construction.


'cradle' model in the los angeles studio of ball and nogues
image © designboom

designboom visited ball and nogues office in los angeles in june and assisted to preparations
and the various steps of model making.


gaston nogues and the 'cradle' model
image © designboom



'cradle' model and formwork for cradle
image © designboom



detail of stainless steel spheres
image © designboom



benjamin ball explains the production process during the making of the 'cradle' model
image © designboom



welding - the actual production of the stainless steel spheres



inflating - the actual production of the stainless steel spheres



inflating - the actual production of the stainless steel spheres


credits:
principals in charge: benjamin ball, gaston nogues
project manager and lead fabricator: james jones
team: andrew lyon, tim peeters, will trossell
custom software development: pylon technical
structural engineer: buro happold, los angeles