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Salmon Waves

Artist Paul Sorey
MediumStainless steel, fasteners, blue LED light and digital electronics
Dimensions7 Stainless steel waves each differs in size and scale. Area covered by waves is 350 sq. ft.
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineSeattle Public Utilities and King County 1% for Art funds
Description: Seven stainless steel wavelike sculptures with light-emitting diodes that create the illusion of juvenile salmon in motion.

Artist Statement: Salmon Waves celebrates the improvements made to the Locks to enhance smolt migration.  I wanted to portray the swimming fish as fleeting and transitory, so I generate images of swimming smolt using a single row of LED lights and digital electronics.  A happy coincidence is that the smolt migrate nocturnally, so being able to see the fish images only at night makes sense.  It also gives people a reason to come back.  There is a sense of mystery about the lights- even people who come to see them at night sometimes need to be shown how to see the fish.

 
Watch: Seattle Channel Profile of Artist Paul Sorey (2007)
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