Janet Echelman explains meaning behind her sculpture 'Current' in downtown Columbus

Columbus' freshest piece of modern public art draws inspiration in part from how the city celebrated the end to America's bloodiest war more than 150 years ago, according to its creator.

Janet Echelman, the mastermind behind the eye-catching "Current" sculpture floating over the intersection of Gay and High streets, said her artwork was created to represented both the present and past versions of Columbus geographically, historically and metaphorically through the use of design, color, lighting and location.

Echelman, 57, who was born in Tampa, said the sculpture was inspired by historical events that occurred in Columbus. The intersection at Gay and High streets used to be home to one of the many arches in the city, which were built in 1888 to welcome home Union soldiers to celebrate the end of the Civil War. She said the specific area where "Current" hangs used to be an arch that was powered by gas lighting, and then became illuminated by electrical lighting. Columbus soon became one of the first cities in the country to use electricity to light their downtown.

"And so, my first impulse was, can I create a new kind of arch in the sky? And what I have done is, using highly engineered fiber, I have pulled into tension an arch, made of fiber that stretches and pulls between the buildings on all four corners," Echelman said.

Echelman said she used the same fiber that NASA used to tether the Mars Rover, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. Along with the material used, the colors have significant meaning influenced by the past, as the blue in the sculpture represents the Scioto River and the red signifies the red earth left behind after the destruction of the Native American burial mounds, that was later used in the original Statehouse completed in 1816 along with many other brick buildings in Columbus.

"And I think that the work is acknowledging and respecting all the layers of history of all the peoples who have inhabited this place, stretching from early history to the present day," Echelman said.

Echelman said the colors and references created in the sculpture are meant to represent how everyone is connected, as they are all woven between one another.

"It moves together as one," Echelman said. "When any knot in the sculpture moves with the wind, every other knot in the sculpture is moved and changed."

Echelman said the name "Current" was inspired by the electrical currents of the old illuminated arch, the currents of the Scioto River and the current moment. This sculpture was a collaborative piece where she was the artist, and her husband David Feldman was the technologist leading the technology strategy and development of computer software tools used to build the sculpture.

"So Current has many meanings all at once, and it invites you in to create your own meaning," Echelman said.

Echelman said she was delightfully surprised by the sense of community in Columbus, and especially by The Columbus Way, a host of partnerships between businesses in the Columbus area, according to their website, which encouraged support for the creation of her piece.

Echelman said Columbus developer Jeff Edwards donated the sculpture to the Columbus Museum of Art's public collection along with the funds for its maintenance and decided to have it displayed above the street for everyone to enjoy.

"Not everyone feels entitled to walk into an art museum, but everyone feels at home and feels entitled to walk in the street and that's why for me as an artist, I love to work over the street," Echelman said.

Echelman said she has installed her works on five different continents, but Columbus was the first city in the world to permanently install her work over a thoroughfare.

"I think cities around the world are going to be looking at Columbus as a model for how to revitalize and develop a downtown," Echelman said.

She said that she has received enthusiastic feedback from residents in the city and was grateful for how accepting everyone in Columbus has been of her work.

Echelman said that she hopes people question the possibilities of life and what they may take for granted when viewing her sculpture, altering their overall perspective.

"We go through life thinking the world is a certain way, that cities are made of buildings that are made of hard materials and straight lines and edges," Echelman said. "And suddenly, you encounter something the scale of a building that is completely different. It is a lighting in the sky, it is soft, it is changing, it is curving, it is moving and part of nature, and nature breathes life into its every moment as it changes."

aesmith@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Janet Echelman explains the inspiration behind "Current" sculpture