Tan T’ien

Tan T’ien is a 9’ tall art installation featuring three fire-breathing dragons holding a pendulum above a sandpit. A blue flame marks the path of the pendulum as it traverses the sand.

I had the privilege of collaborating with a woodworker, structural designer, and a metal worker on this piece. The structural designer came up with the initial concept of a heavy pendulum drawing a flaming path, then through a series of brainstorming and sketching sessions, we landed on the idea that the frame could be fire-breathing dragons. I mean, why not.

I did all of the visual design (shape of curved frame, dragon head and legs, pendulum flame details and custom brackets), and helped with all aspects of the build.

Close up of the finished head, blackened with soot

Design: The structural designer used my vector files to create an AutoCAD rendering

Build: Our metal worker had a CNC machine, so I designed the dragon heads and legs in layers of steel with copper accents

Build: I was also able to design and cut custom brackets

Build: The curved legs of the tripod were made of laminated bent wood