Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, announces a new art installation titled We’ve Got to Cross this Great Big World Somehow, by Los Angeles artist Megan Geckler in Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), on public view through 2018.
Using 360 strands of hand-dyed diamond braid rope to create a monumental sculptural installation, Geckler’s artwork is the visual result of an architectural and mathematical study of the site’s soaring atrium. Sited at the TSA checkpoint on the Upper/Departures level, the installation enriches the passenger experience by infusing the space with vibrant colors and dramatic shapes.
Geckler explores the spatial relationship between the clerestory windows and the platforms on either side of the entrance to the TSA checkpoint. Hundreds of colorful ropes are suspended from the windows and clustered to form a giant “X” on the platforms, suggesting connections between points and people. The “X” shape also references an hourglass and the cycle of time.
Located at the entrance into Terminal 3, the installation was designed with passenger movement in mind. “As people progress through the TSA line, the ropes appear to slip and slide against each other in space. This effect creates patterns that seem to shift and generates dynamic views of the artwork from every direction,” states Geckler. The span of ropes also creates a curtain that marks the transitional nature of the space as passengers move from a public space to a regulated one.
Geckler hand dyed the rope using twenty different color formulas to achieve a full spectrum color palette that is divided between warm hues on the west side and cool on the east side. This prismatic effect is a nod to the sequence of hues that make up a rainbow, the sun’s pathway across the sky, and the passing of time. The result is a convergence of color that marks a spot and time.
