Fluent

Commissioned by:
New Jersey Transit Corporation, Transit Arts Program with assistance from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Funding made possible by the Federal Transportation Administration.

Dimensions:
50′ x 350′ x 100′ (1,750,000 cu. feet)
15.2m x 106.7m x 30.5m (49,555 cu. meters)

Materials:
Stainless steel, suspension cable and fittings, hardware

Fluent is a work integrated with both the context and architecture of the Hoboken Ferry Terminal. A constellation of related elements is intended to augment the public’s sense of place,  focus viewers’ gaze on both the macro- and microscopic aspects of the living river, and reveal the invisible wind currents that surround them.

Suspended from above in each Ferry Slip, a double-ended taper formed of horizontal rings is defined by eight vertical cables with a ‘pananemone’ at its center. Composed of two half discs perpendicular to one another, the instrument is responsive to all winds. Anchoring the gauges at the water’s surface are incremented plummets, sensitive to the tide’s ebb and flow. An array of stainless steel discs hang from the high ceiling, transforming the air above into a dramatic field of reflection.

A series of stainless steel vanes with plummets weave through the flow of discs. Animated by the fluctuating wind, the suspended vanes respond to the shifting air currents with precise, nuanced movement. Articulating the unseen fluid dynamics of the space, Fluent echoes the tidal fluctuations of the Hudson and the flow of commuters moving through the Terminal.