Airway by Artist Vicki Scuri
Image from Forecast Public Art © Vicki Scuri

We were awed yesterday on our way through El Paso, Texas yesterday when we drove through this dynamic piece that frames the I-10 corridor near the airport. It was that perfect time of day when the lighting was set off against a deep blue sky. The vertical axis wind turbines with overlapping blades in perspective provides a complicated visual moiré effect that reveals its secret as you pass through the installation.


Airway by Artist Vicki Scuri
Image from Forecast Public Art © Vicki Scuri

It is very likely that this artwork generates more electricity than it requires to light itself, although that is not a figure that is cited in the articles that we could find online about the piece.

The artist, Vicki Scuri, says that she was inspired by aeronautical forms and by the shape of desert plants.

Below is our guess regarding the desert plant she’s referring to. It is ubiquitous in that part of the southwest and it’s really beautiful.


Flowering Soaptree Yucca (Yucca Elata)
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/lonqueta/5247757022/

Other articles with more information about the artwork:
https://www.codaworx.com/project/airway-crrma-txdot-city-of-el-paso
nice video at the bottom

http://forecastpublicart.org/public-art-review/current-projects/2015/02/airway/
http://herrajeros.com/2015/interview-vicki-scuri-airway-el-paso/