HENRY PHILIPPE LOUSTAU

"Making Great Things Happen"

An Interactive Kinetic Sculpture at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts
Interactive Kinetic Sculpture, "Making Great Things Happen"

An angular, metal tree struggles upward from a solid pyramidal base. The tree is strong, but its development has been difficult and its life-giving leaves are few. A small house sits securely on a platform high up in the tree. It's a familiar house. We have seen it before in children's drawings, on the Monopoly board and in suburbia. A long elastic belt snakes out of the house and weaves its way around the hubs of large organic wheels. Nestled in the base of this sculpture is a device that accepts money. When you insert a dollar, the large wooden wheels turn at varying speeds. The motion is reminiscent of pinwheels in a light breeze and Don Quixote's windmills. It is both playful and grand. The sculpture is amusing while suggesting that greater issues are at hand.

This twenty-three foot tall sculpture has been installed in the lobby of the new home of the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington, Delaware. Its imagery is suggestive of the mission of the Arts Center. The sculpture is site specific and wall mounted. A discreet label indicates that a small monetary contribution will activate the sculpture and support the programs of the Arts Center.

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