It is not the clear-sighted who rule the world.  Great achievements are accomplished in a blessed, warm fog.

- Joseph Conrad
 

1. Fire Vortex - Technorama, Winterthur, Switzerland.  1997

   Suspended in a dark atrium of the museum, a series of fans and blowers creates a 20 foot (6 metre) tall vortex of swirling fire.  The vortex forms over a pool of burning kerosene.  The flame spirals up through the spinning outer core of the vortex, leaving a hollow calm in the centre.  The serpentine motion of the vortex is constantly influenced by air currents in the museum.  Visitors view the vortex from the safety of a balcony, but they are still close enough to feel the heat and hear the rumbling sounds that it creates.  Completed in 1997.
    
   Source: nedkahn.com/fire.html#firevortex

2. Tornado - World Financial Center, Battery Park City, New York, New York.  1990

   A 10-foot tall vortex is formed by air blowers and an ultrasonic fog machine inside a sculpture installed in the atrium adjacent to the Winter Garden.  The vortex continually changed shape in response to the surrounding air currents.  These fluctuations gave the vortex an erratic and life-like appearance.  Viewers were encouraged to alter the shape of the vortex with their hands.  The calm, central core of the vortex is clearly evident.
    
   Source: nedkahn.com/fog.html#infalling

3. Invisible Whirlwinds - New Langton Arts, San Francisco, California.  1987

   A 12-foot tall fog tornado was created using fans, curved walls and the existing ventilation system in the gallery.  The movements of viewers altered the air currents and modified the shape of the vortex.
    
   Source: nedkahn.com/fog.html#infalling

4. Duales Systems Pavilion - EXPO 2000, Hannover, Germany.  2000

   A collaboration with the architect, Uwe Bruckner, on the design of a building that created a 7-story tall tornado.  The pavilion was sponsored by the German recycling company, Duales Systems.  The circular shape of the building and air turbines integrated into the spiral ramps and ceiling were designed to sculpt the air in the central atrium into a 75-foot (23 metres) tall vortex.  The vortex was made visible by fog pumped through the floor and illuminated by a combination of natural light and electronically controlled lights that slowly cycled through various colours.  The membrane of the building opened and closed every 10n minutes, causing the ambient light levels to slowly rise and fall.  The circular forms of the architecture, the swirling vortex and the rhythmic lightening and darkening of the space, all related to the underlying design theme of "cycles".  Visitors to the pavilion also walked in a cyclical path, slowly ascending a spiral ramp that offered close viewing of the vortex from many different heights and vantage points and then descending a spiral staircase.  Completed in May 2000.
    
   Source: nedkahn.com/fog.html#Duales

For photos of the earth and moon, stained glass, sunsets on Wellington Harbour, Lady Fair, Civic Square, the old mill, the Whippany River, historical houses, Lake Parsippany and more clicking the "Up" button below takes you to the Index page for this Photographs section.