bamboo, luminous

Description: bamboo, luminous is a stand of seven resin “bamboo shoots” that occupies one end of the planting strip along Fifth Avenue South and marks the entry to the Emergency Operations Center.  Lit internally by energy-efficient LEDs, the slender yellow-green reeds transmit and pulse light in the evening and pull the viewer along the street.  The intended effect is to be calm yet playful, with the color of grove contrasting with the deeply hued building.

Artists’ Statement: Bamboo is an element common to the landscapes and traditional arts of Asia and the Pacific – the homelands of many of the immigrants to the International District.  Graceful and powerful, bamboo symbolizes the qualities of enlightenment – resilience and adaptiveness.  bamboo, luminous is a metaphor for the strength and endurance of the immigrants to the International District and the service personnel of Fire Station 10, the Emergency Operations Center and the Fire Alarm Center. . . The various Asian communities and the service personnel of the International District are linked and honored by the metaphor of the enduring bamboo clustered together.  bamboo, luminous – a  gesture evoking a remembered landscape, and a symbol of strength and survival – is transformed into a glowing new urban landscape.

 Location: Fire Station 10 and Fire Alarm Center, Emergency Operations Center, 400 South Washington Street, Seattle WA 98104