Needle Tower

Needle Tower

Artist	Kenneth Snelson
Year	1968 (1968)
Type	Aluminum & Stainless steel
Dimensions	1,800 cm × 618 cm × 540 cm (720 in × 243.5 in × 213 in)
Location	Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., United States
	38°53′16.4″N 77°1′20.99″W / 38.887889°N 77.0224972°W / 38.887889; -77.0224972
Owner	Smithsonian Institution

Needle Tower is a public artwork by American sculptor Kenneth Snelson located outside of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, United States.^[1]

Description

This very tall abstract sculpture depicts a tapering tower that is made of aluminum and stainless steel.^[1] The aluminum tubes push, held together by the stainless steel wire threaded through in the ends of the tubes. ^[2]

Acquisition

The piece was a gift of Joseph Hirshhorn in 1974.^[1]

Tensegrity

Snelson's unique sculpture style is well articulated in "Needle Tower".

The structure style displayed is known as "tensegrity," a description given by Snelson's former professor Buckminster Fuller to the melding of tension and structural integrity. According to Snelson:

Tensegrity describes a closed structural system composed of a set of three or more elongate compression struts within a network of tension tendons, the combined parts mutually supportive in such a way that the struts do not touch one another, but press outwardly against nodal points in the tension network to form a firm, triangulated, prestressed, tension and compression unit.^[3]

Symbolism

The six-pointed star visible from under "Needle Tower"

Much has been said about the geometric shapes seen in Snelson's works. Looking up from the inside of "Needle Tower" one may see the Star of David. According to Snelson, his works are not symbolic and it's common to see six-pointed stars in his work. In "Needle Tower" the six pointedness comes from the natural geometry of the three compression struts that make up each layer. Sets of three alternate with left and right helical module they add up to six when you look upwards into the tower.^[3]

Conservation

In April 2010 conservation work was completed on the sculpture by the Hirshhorn Museum. It took 15 staff members to stand the tower up-right after conservation completion.^[4]

Needle Tower II

A second Needle Tower was completed in 1968, Needle Tower II, and was acquired by the Kröller-Müller Museum in 1971, the piece resides in the museums sculpture garden.^[5]

Gallery

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  Detail

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References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (2008). "Needle Tower, (sculpture).". Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture. Smithsonian. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!6413~!0#focus. Retrieved 7 January 2010. 
2. ^ A Garden for Art, Valerie J. Fletcher, LOC # 97-61991, p.85
3. ^ ^{a b} Kenneth Snelson. "FAQ". Kenneth Snelson. http://kennethsnelson.net/faq/. Retrieved 7 January 2010. 
4. ^ Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens (2010). "Installation of Kenneth Snelson's "Needle Tower"". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDNohDRWTvU. Retrieved 7 January 2010. 
5. ^ Acquisitions of Modern Art by Museums: Supplement. The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd., Feb. 1971, p 119.

External links

• Curious Skeletons by NASA
• "Needle Tower" on CMU 3rd Year Studio
• Hirshhorn's collection entry
• Installation video by the Hirshhorn of the sculpture being lifted upright
• Metal Sculpture by Kenneth Snelson on Mathematical paintings and sculptures
• "Needle Tower" assembly animation by Snelson
• "Needle Tower" on Kenneth Snelson's website
• "Needle Tower" on Grunch Net
• Waymarking Entry for "Needle Tower"
• "Tensegrities" Jan Marcus