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For Immediate Release: Free public reception for a solar-powered, kinetic sculpture by artist Anthony Castronovo August 14, 2010 from 5pm to sunset at the home of Beth Deutch and Larry Rubin, 8 North Ward Ave, Rumson, NJ. RSVP anthonycastronovo(at)gmail(dot)com Heliotropis is the latest sculpture by Florida artist Anthony Castronovo. New-media, solar-powered, and kinetic are all appropriate descriptions of this large outdoor sculpture commissioned by Beth Deutch and Larry Rubin of Rumson, New Jersey. Heliotropis is a ten-foot tall flower made of vivid, colorful glass combined with bronze and various custom electronics. Ten translucent lavender petals individually hinge and open from a central point in response to changes in the physical environment. The motion is smooth and awe-inspiring as the petals move within inches of each other to close tightly. Heliotropis is self sufficient in the sense that it generates its own power through two custom-fabricated photovoltaic leaves. The sculpture uses five sensors to track environmental conditions such as light, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and ground vibrations (foot traffic). Depending on the specific conditions at the time, the flower opens and closes at various speeds and will display many other choreographed motion sequences. In addition, at the core of the flower is an LED array that illuminates at night. “As an artist and educator, my work is largely about people and relationships. More specifically in an ecological sense, I am interested in our human relationship to nature. I have explored this interest in many different ways including performance events, drawings and sculptures, and most recently in the form of a techno-biotic flower that changes its form and behavior based on changes in the physical environment. Heliotropis creates a definite visual link between its physical form and the conditions of its immediate environment. This relationship explores the interactions between machine and nature. Today there is no hotter topic than ecology as it is a fundamental consideration in many professional fields from business to science and various aspects of society. We are also at a pinnacle now with technologies so small and fast as computers proliferate. I am thrilled and excited about technology and progress in this sense. In my work I am thinking about these interests, and see my sculptures and interactions as energy generators, spinning through space and creating energy from matter and time. “ Beth Deutch and Larry Rubin will host this one-day-only public reception for Heliotropis at their home in Rumson, NJ. On Saturday August, 14 from 5:00 pm to sunset, cocktails and hors d-ouevres along with musical guests the Brooklyn-based Umbrella Men promise to make this an unforgettable evening! |
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