Whoooooo hurt you? Photo by James Rambin.
Austin Proper, the downtown Austin condo and hotel tower still under construction at 600 West Second Street near Shoal Creek and the rest of the redeveloped Green Water Treatment Plant site, already has its first two permanent residents — and they’re owls. Two 10-foot owls at the corner of West Second and Nueces Streets, to be exact:
Just in case the persistent urban legend about the Frost Bank Tower wasn’t enough for you, now downtown Austin’s got a little Bohemian Grove of its own. Hey, which one of you guys is Moloch? Image: NAPA
It’s certainly a more striking work of public art than those big concrete dog leavings over by the new Central Library, but what’s going on here? Called Kempelen’s Owls, the two sculptures are a collaborative work between the City of Austin’s Art in Public Places program and Massachusetts-based studio New American Public Art.
Photo by James Rambin.
Kempelen’s Owls, inspired by the 18th-century robotics of Wolfgang Von Kempelen, will be an interactive sculpture that fosters curiosity. Two Texan great horned owls . . . will perch atop dodecahedrons (12 sided geometric shapes) and silently observe surrounding passers by. The interactive features of the work are hidden, awaiting discovery by visitors who can activate them to trigger movement in the owls.
— City of Austin Cultural Arts Division
Yes, you’re reading that correctly — the owls, spooky glowing eyes and all, are equipped with hidden mechanisms allowing them to turn their heads and stare at you. Just in time for Halloween, right?
Here’s a very complex article about some of the technology enabling this extremely interesting and mildly unsettling feature, and below you’ll find a video from the artists about the design and fabrication of the owls — they’re made from “layered metal and other composite materials,” per the studio:
The installation is also the first in the city’s Art in Public Places collection to be fully open-sourced under a creative commons license, meaning in theory you have all the resources available to build one of these terrifying things yourself.
Photo by James Rambin.
Here’s a full 3D model of the work from computer-aided design software firm Autodesk, one of the project’s main sponsors — we’re just gonna scroll it around a little and call it a day, but feel free to start putting one together in your garage if the design really speaks to you. Your neighbors will love this thing.
Latest Downtown Austin Condos For Sale
-
$509,000
360 Nueces Street #2306
Austin, TX -
$1,200,000
555 E 5th Street #530
Austin, TX -
$549,000
603 Davis Street #1105
Austin, TX -
$825,000
501 West Avenue #703
Austin, TX -
$1,350,000
311 W 5th Street #602
Austin, TX -
$469,000
54 Rainey Street #317
Austin, TX -
$1,100,000
98 San Jacinto Boulevard #806
Austin, TX -
$905,000
70 Rainey Street #2007
Austin, TX -
$600,000
70 Rainey Street #1203
Austin, TX -
$724,500
603 Davis Street #613
Austin, TX -
$2,250,000
555 E 5th Street #3021
Austin, TX -
$1,585,000
200 Congress Avenue #12E
Austin, TX -
$650,000
301 West Avenue #1602
Austin, TX -
$809,000
360 Nueces Street #1105
Austin, TX -
$1,125,000
200 Congress Avenue #33BB
Austin, TX
-
$509,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size748 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,200,000Lot Size436 sqft
Home Size2,041 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$549,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size714 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$825,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size930 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths2 Baths
-
$1,350,000Lot Size436 sqft
Home Size1,896 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$469,000Lot Size436 sqft
Home Size865 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,100,000Lot Size436 sqft
Home Size1,271 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$905,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size1,128 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$600,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size663 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$724,500Lot Size436 sqft
Home Size1,084 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$2,250,000Lot Size436 sqft
Home Size2,832 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$1,585,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size1,918 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$650,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size698 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$809,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size1,225 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$1,125,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size816 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths2 Baths
Leave a Reply