“Sunwheel” is the invention of artist collective Moradavaga (Portuguese contraction for “vague address”), who was commissioned by the city to create one of three public art works for Festa de São João, Porto’s biggest annual celebration in June. The installation was situated in the fountain in front of City Hall from June 4-26, 2016.
“Sunwheel” is made of hundreds of thin gold plates suspended across an 8-metre circular grid mounted on an iron base, a symbolic sun wheel with ancient roots (the same as the festival) marking the summer solstice. The whole wheel can be rotated by hand; the plates move individually and shimmer when the light catches them. The motion and reflections are visible from a distance, their collective patterns and movement making interesting light effects depending on the weather, time of day, and rotation speed.
For the past decade, the architects of Moradavaga — Manfred Eccli (Bolzano, Italy) and Pedro Cavaco Leitão (Porto) — have been creating works combining architecture, art, and design with interactive elements, inviting the public to engage with and experience art on a deeper level. You can see people interacting with “Sunwheel” on Moradavaga’s website and in their video below, starting with a time-lapse of the installation:
SUNWHEEL from Moradavaga on Vimeo.
Description from Vimeo:
Following an invitation by Porto Lazer to rethink São João’s popular cascades, Moradavaga took inspiration from one of its icons, the wheel of the traditional water mills, and linked it to the old pagan cults to the Sun related to the summer solstice, from which the traditional festivities in honor of the city’s christian patron are derived, developing a site-specific interactive artistic piece implanted inside the fountain of Porto’s main avenue. The rotation of the 8 meters diameter “sun-wheel”, made of hundreds of little golden moving plates, produces changing effects throughout day and night, according to wind and light variations and the speed given by users, also creating varying reflections and movements on the existent water mirror.
June 28, 2016
Album: Portugal [Summer 2016]