Travelling Exhibitionists.

This is the first in a series of posts geared toward art encountered while travelling—the art you find in airports, bus stations, subways, or other travel-related locations. Readers are invited to send stories of favorite art works found in travel terminals.

Let’s start in the Central Terminal of the Seattle Airport where Ralph Helmick and Stuart Schechter’s suspended sculpture Landing is on view. The Boston-based duo completed the work in 2005.

Measuring 48’ high and 25’ deep, Landing is composed of thousands of individual snow geese, trout, raindrops and ambient elements that reference the culture and history of the Pacific Northwest. The carefully suspended items come together to form the image of a goose landing, complete with a reflection in water. The sculpture serves as an exploration of nature and civilization.

Known for their ambitious public art projects, Helmick and Schechter’s work can been seen in major metropolitan spaces around the country. In fact, you can see their work right here in Salt Lake City. The artists were commissioned to create a sculpture for the Salt Lake Main Library. Hanging in the Library’s Urban Room is Psyche, a work consisting of 1500 suspended mini sculptures of books and fluttering butterflies. Together, the sculptures form the shape of a human head. Some of the butterflies sport wings covered with words in twenty different languages taken from the humanitarian bill of rights.

You can see more works by Helmick and Schechter at http://www.handsart.net/home.html.