''Her Secret Is Patience'' is a

public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

commission designed by artist

Janet Echelman Janet Echelman (born March 19, 1966) is an American sculptor and fiber artist. Her sculptures have been displayed as public art, often as site-specific installations. Works include: '' 1.26'', which has been exhibited on five continents; '' He ...

for the city of

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. Its creation was the result of collaboration between the artist and a team of award-winning engineers, architects, planners, and fabricators. It is located downtown in the Civic Space Park across from the

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (often abbreviated to The Cronkite School by its students and faculty), is one of the 24 independent schools at Arizona State University and is named in honor of veteran broadcast jo ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. The sculpture consists of painted,

galvanized Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged ...

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

;

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natura ...

twine netting; and colored lights. The piece cost $2.5 million. The title of the piece is a quote from

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...

and during construction it was unofficially titled ''Sky Bloom.''

Design

The netting is 38 ft off the ground and 100 ft. tall and the three support poles are 102 ft, 125 ft. and 145 ft. tall. The netting is designed to show the movements of the wind. Its shape reflects Arizona's enormous

cumulus cloud Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as "puffy", "cotton-like" or "fluffy" in appearance. Their name derives from the Latin ''cumulo-'', meaning ''heap'' or ''pile''. Cumulus clouds are low-level clouds, gener ...

s. At night, the colors gradually change with the seasons adding cool hues in the summer and warm hues in the winter. The initial design process began with the creation of a three-dimensional computer model created using custom software. Those forms were then translated into CAD software in order to define the geometry and surfaces of the sculpture. These digital structures were then exported to a gravity and wind simulator in order to determine the necessary twine tenacity to withstand the desert winds. From this information, construction drawings were created which include specific looming patterns, color information, and lengths of meshes.

Fabrication

The fabrication process involved several North American factories specializing in hand-craftsmanship. There are several layers of nets in the sculpture. The main body of colored net including the "wormhole" at the center, a structural net, which helps give the primary net its shape, and a cover net.''Her Secret Is Patience'' Fact Sheet
Janet Echelman's website The edge of every mesh is a different length, requiring the use of manual splicing on each joint. The two shortest steel support towers were shipped to the site complete; the third tower was shipped in halves, which were assembled and welded on-site. The suspension rings were created by a manufacturer specializing in fabricating

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are ...

equipment. The rings hang

concentric In geometry, two or more objects are said to be concentric, coaxal, or coaxial when they share the same center or axis. Circles, regular polygons and regular polyhedra, and spheres may be concentric to one another (sharing the same center p ...

ally 100 ft above the ground and are bound together with 1 in.

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid f ...

steel cable. The rings are secured to the base of each support tower with tie-down cables, which provide structural stability against strong winds and minimize ring movement. The fabrication and engineering of the project was conducted by multiple firms. * Net Engineering: Buro Happold (New York) * Aeronautical Engineering: Peter Heppel Associates (Paris) * Consultant: Speranza Architecture (New York) * Lighting: VOX Arts (Baltimore, MD) * Sculptural Foundations construction: Foresite Design (Berkley, MI) * Fabrication & Project Engineering: CAID Industries (Tucson, AZ) * Steel Structure and Foundation Engineering: M3 Engineering and Technology (Tucson, AZ)

Repairs

The netting is required to be repaired roughly every 5 years, with the first repair taking place in December 2014. The existing netting is recycled and replaced with a new net and lighting. This process will need to continue on for the life of the sculpture. The cost of each net and its installation is currently unknown.

Reception

Author Prof. Patrick Frank writes "...most Arizonans look on the work with pride: this unique visual delight will forever mark the city of Phoenix just as the Eiffel Tower marks Paris." The ''

Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' editorialized: "This is just what Phoenix need: a distinctive feature that helps create a real sense of place." Some internet users have likened the sculpture to a

jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbre ...

or a

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

. Others liken it to a floating used condom.

Controversy

Some people have questioned the extremely high ($2.5 Million USD) cost of the project which was undertaken during the "

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

" More recently there have been question about the ongoing cost of the project which requires a new net to be constructed roughly every 5 years. The costs of replacing the nets has not been disclosed and this has led to fears of what the true cost of ownership for this project is in the long term. In addition the fact that the project was awarded to an out of state artist and the majority of fabrication and engineering was conducted by out of state firms has created discussions regarding the true positive local economic impact of such an expensive project. Proponents say that it will increase tourism to the area.

Awards

References

External links

''Her Secret Is Patience'' on Janet Echelman's website

"Sculpting Urban Airspace: Janet Echelman"
September 2011 Sculpture Magazine {{Coord, 33, 27, 12, N, 112, 4, 28, W, display=title 2009 sculptures Public art in the United States Sculptures in Arizona Fabric sculptures