The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati (CAC) has commissioned new work by the innovative Argentinean artist Tomás Saraceno who develops ambitious projects including models for cities that float on air. On view June 17, 2016, through June 2017, the installation comprises a series of pyramid-shaped, kite-like structures suspended from the CAC's spacious lobby.
This aspect of Saraceno's practice that joins art, architecture, and science is based on work conducted by Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone and tetrahedral kite frame construction, during his early investigations into manned flight. Saraceno draws on Bell's studies and his own experience as an artist, architect, and artist-in-residence at NASA's International Space Studies Program to create outsized kites constructed with light-weight carbon fiber tubing and flexible solar panels. When the wind takes the structures aloft, the paper-thin solar panels function as sails. The artist envisions these structures as models for flying observation towers or public plazas and, eventually, cities in the sky.
Original Article: http://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/8123-tom%C3%A1s-saraceno-work-inspired-by-alexander-graham-bell-to-debut-at