fiberglass, steel, high tension cable

82'x34'x32'

2008

Strung like a harp, suspended high in the air on high-tension cables, Growth Rings is a feat of art and engineering.  Developer Mark Sherman commissioned the artwork as a part of the Sherman Mills, a community of artists in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia.  

Its installation created a symbolic landmark through art.  Before Growth Rings, there was little evidence of an artistic community outside the individual artist studios.  By bringing together the collection of old factory buildings, the piece became a transformative landmark for the community. 
The sculpture feels like a series of viewfinders into the sky.  Like a spectacular sunset on the horizon, Growth Rings resists being captured in a single photo.  Because the sky behind it is such an active element in the composition, Kaman and Erland think that stop motion animation is the key to understanding the piece. 
The paradox of the hovering mass elicits a visceral response, but through stop-motion animation, the viewer can see that the focus is always on the sky itself.  It is a creative skyline, continuously changing, that expresses the value of art to the community.