''She Changes'', known locally as ''anémona'' ( the anemone), is a

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

and

Matosinhos Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...

, Northern Portugal. The installation consists of three

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

poles, cables, a 20- ton steel ring and a net structure of varying densities and colors. The sculpture is Echelman's first permanent public art installation.

Design

The sculpture is designed to reflect Porto's and Matosinhos's seafaring and industrial heritage. The three support poles are painted to resemble the smokestacks and lighthouses in the area. The net structure is meant to reference the city's fishing industry. The three support poles range in height from 25–50 m in order to hang the 20-ton, 45 m diameter steel ring at an angle to the ground. The net is woven together from 36 individual sections of varying densities, which give the net its shape. The net material is made of TENARA architectural fiber, a UV-resistant material made of

PTFE Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, and has numerous applications because it is chemically inert. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off fro ...

, Polytetrafluoroethylene. The netting structure was disassembled for repair in October 2020. The structure was reassembled in April 2021 with new netting. The sculpture weighs approximately 1.5 tonnes.

Awards

*2005 Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Year in Review *2006 Advanced Textiles Association Award of Excellence for Architectural Structures – Other

References

External links

''She Changes'' on Janet Echelman's Website

''She Changes'' construction time lapse video

Video of ''She Changes''
on YouTube {{Porto 2005 sculptures Steel sculptures in Portugal Buildings and structures in Porto Tourist attractions in Porto Matosinhos Outdoor sculptures in Portugal