LETTER CLOUD

permanent public artwork

Clareview Public Library, Edmonton, Alberta 2014

Powder-coated aluminum letters, stainless steel armature and cables

2m tall x 3m wide x 4m long

Ephemeral and porous, yet precise and solid, LETTER CLOUD is a suspended kinetic artwork composed of hundreds of aluminum letters from different alphabets systematically hung from a network of metal rods and cables. The volume is simultaneously an abstract mass, a direct reference to printed matter and a data visualization of community demographics.

The number of letters used from each alphabet is based on the different languages spoken by the population of Edmonton at the time of the Library’s opening. This mixing of demographic information into the artwork brings with it a specificity without being didactic. LETTER CLOUD becomes a very abstract statistical record while simultaneously having an appeal to the individual who recognizes, among the hundreds of characters, one which he or she can be curious or nostalgic about. 

Through its multiple readings, LETTER CLOUD represents possibilities and encourages discovery. Poetically collecting stray letters that have floated up to the ceiling, it becomes a visual magnet at the entrance to the library.