The Spinning Chandelier
Rodney Graham’s public art work is a reminder to look up.
On a (thankfully) rainless November night, under the spell of intrigue, physically planted beneath the Granville Street Bridge, an assemblage of Vancouverites had their heads propped back looking up at a mammoth-sized chandelier hanging on the underside of the bridge.
The Spinning Chandelier, a spectacular public art work by Rodney Graham, was illuminated and set in motion for the first time. The 7,500-pound stainless steel chandelier of LED lights and more than 600 polyurethane “crystals” is a private sector commission by Westbank as part of the Vancouver House, a Bjarke Ingels-designed development that centres on a distinctive twisting skyscraper.
“This was a project of so many complicated challenges,” commented Graham of the three-year process, while giving thanks to the City of Vancouver, Westbank, and the company’s founder, Ian Gillespie, who “had the willingness to do this exactly as I perhaps, stubbornly, insisted.”
Graham alongside Gillespie took to the crowd to experience the first performance of the Spinning Chandelier. Round and round and round she goes… Twice a day, at high noon and 8:00 p.m. The Spinning Chandelier will light up, drop to its lowest point, and rotate before ascending to its resting position.
The 7,500-pound stainless steel chandelier of LED lights and more than 600 polyurethane “crystals” is a private sector commission by Westbank.
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