This piece is located in a new park being built adjacent to a housing development in Cupertino in the South San Francisco Bay area. I was asked to design something that reflected on the location and the nature of the City of Cupertino. I wanted to come up with something that could work on many levels and might reveal more to people who were regular visitors to the park over time. Two 18ft diameter circles at the intersection of the park’s pathways were chosen as the areas in which to focus the artwork.

Things that interest me about the area: the diverse and migrant population; the convergence of transportation especially the freeways and airport; the wetlands at the South Bay being a huge draw for migrating birds; the quick transition of the area from an agricultural center of vineyards and fruit orchards, to being a high-tech hub of silicon valley.

The design of the artwork abstractly alludes to all these things. The vine shapes are quite literal, whereas the linear patterned element scan be construed as many things – rivers, trees, roots, ropes, braids. All of these feel appropriate to the idea of migration and convergence. The metal discs that “orbit” one area are cut with patterns found in Chinese and Indian textiles and architecture.  The concrete plinths are sculpture, street furniture, and play objects combined and form a focal point within the park’s pathways.

Scroll down and watch the piece take shape.

Day One: Kelley helping to add shapes to the forms. The Orange discs will form the recesses that the metal discs sit in later.

Day 2: Pouring concrete for the first section. Burying the discs in the surface, and cutting the joint pattern.

Acid washing the surface to give it a sandy texture.

Day 3: Pouring the concrete for the 3D "plinths".

Forms full - leave for 3 days.

Day 4: All set and ready to strip the forms.

The surface will get some smoothing treatment and the house shapes will be filled with colored stucco.

So far so good. Now the whole thing is left to cure for a couple of weeks. Looking autumnal here today.

Brass discs to be set into the "holes" in the concrete. As a reference to the area's Chinese and Indian population, the disca are water-jet cut with lattice patterns from Indian and Chinese architecture. To anchor them into the concrete, small tags are welded to the undesides.

Day 5: Setting the discs in their holes.

Marking out some of the line "drawing".

Cutting the drawing with a grinder. Loud, dusty, wet, uncomfortable, but strangely satisfying.

Grinder ...

Some of the cut-in drawings.

More cutting. After this, the whiole thing was stained with a chemically reactive stain turning the cement surface a patinaed tan color.

Day .... ? Stopped counting now.   Marking out templates for sandblasting.

Cutting templates.

Sandblasting the stem of the "vine" shape through stencils.

Adding the leaves to the vine.

Dave the Sandblasting Guy attempting vertical take-off.

Looks good when you hose the dust away.

Taking shape.

Lunch. There's a lot of really good Indian food in Cupertino!

Packing the little recessed house shapes with colored stucco.

Finishing the house shapes.

Progress so far. Should be finished next week.

Second, simpler area is finished apart from applying some sealer which will deepen the color.

Using a needle scaler, a kind of pneumatic chisel, to chip out the bird shapes through steel stencils.

Staining stripes on the braids.

Almost complete.

Added clusters of detail concentrated into small areas.

Taken straight after a coat of sealer which makes everything a little dark until the sealer cures.

Now complete! Apart from embedding one disc that will extend out of the park onto the sidewalk which hasn't been poured yet.

And finally, the park opens in January 2011.

Credit: Big thanks to Kelley Burnham for assisting in the brain, muscle, and every other department on the whole thing!