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
-
$535,000
48 East Ave #3202
Austin, TX -
$399,990
507 Sabine ST #904
Austin, TX -
$2,150,000
200 Congress Ave #15D
Austin, TX -
$899,000
44 East Ave #2707
Austin, TX -
$2,675,000
222 West Ave #1901
Austin, TX -
$499,000
360 Nueces ST #2506
Austin, TX -
$1,275,000
300 Bowie ST #1403
Austin, TX -
$447,000
505 W 7th ST #108
Austin, TX -
$740,000
222 West Ave #1112
Austin, TX -
$2,995,000
555 E 5th ST #2712
Austin, TX -
$775,000
360 Nueces ST #1317
Austin, TX -
$1,050,000
48 East Ave #2511
Austin, TX -
$489,000
210 Lee Barton DR #520
Austin, TX -
$4,195,000
202 Nueces ST #1406
Austin, TX -
$469,000
54 Rainey ST #1015
Austin, TX
-
$535,000Lot Size40 sqft
Home Size450 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$399,990Lot Size114 sqft
Home Size728 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$2,150,000Lot Size131 sqft
Home Size1,609 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$899,000Lot Size96 sqft
Home Size1,221 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$2,675,000Lot Size636 sqft
Home Size2,227 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$499,000Lot Size101 sqft
Home Size748 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,275,000Lot Size88 sqft
Home Size1,687 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$447,000Lot Size393 sqft
Home Size629 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$740,000Lot Size236 sqft
Home Size821 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$2,995,000Lot Size336 sqft
Home Size3,193 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3.5 Baths
-
$775,000Lot Size149 sqft
Home Size1,115 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$1,050,000Lot Size88 sqft
Home Size1,036 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2.5 Baths
-
$489,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size862 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$4,195,000Lot Size131 sqft
Home Size2,236 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3.5 Baths
-
$469,000Lot Size192 sqft
Home Size756 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
Leave a Reply