Intersect (102)

light, aluminum, poplar, acrylic, electrical components

30 x 9 x 1 feet

McCormick Place, Chicago

installed May 2007

Commissioned by Paul Klein for the McCormick Place West Expansion. 

Each of the small structures in this piece represents one of the 102 counties in Illinois. The amount of wood in each is directly related to the population of that county, resulting in shadows that illustrate the population density. The extremes of the range are unique. Cook County, with its population of 5.5 million equal to nearly all the other counties combined, is represented by a solid mass. The counties of Pope, Hardin, Calhoun, Scott, Putnam and Stark, each with only around 5000 residents, appear as the six translucent forms that house the electrical components to power the whole installation.