Editing Gas sculpture

{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}

[[Image:NGAFogSculpture 005.jpg|thumb|300 px|Fog sculpture in the sculpture garden of the [[National Gallery of Australia]] in [[Canberra]].  Artist is [[Fujiko Nakaya]] (born 1933 Japan, daughter of [[Ukichiro Nakaya]]).  The sculpture was made in 1976 and purchased in 1977.]]

'''Gas sculpture''' is a concept introduced by [[Joan Miró]] to make [[sculpture]]s out of [[gas]]eous materials. The idea of a gas sculpture also appeared in the book ''Gog'', by [[Giovanni Papini]] (1881–1956).

An example of pure water fog sculpture is in the [[sculpture garden]] at the [[National Gallery of Australia]] in [[Canberra]]. A large bank of very small [[nozzle]]s is arrayed on the edge of a small rush-filled [[pond]], and when the power is switched on a fine mist of [[fog]] billows out. The "sculpture" has a continuously changing shape as it is affected by the water, the rushes, and the air currents in the area.

==Technology==
'''Cold water fog''' nozzle technologies were developed by industry in the late 1960s for factory air particulate control and agricultural orchard freeze prevention. These high pressure systems force filtered water at {{convert|1500|to(-)|3000|psi|kPa}} through custom nozzles to atomize the water into billions of ultra-fine droplets below {{convert|10|um|in}} in size. In industrial applications this also provides cooling due to rapid evaporation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.meefog.com/technology/|title=MeeFog™ Commercial Humification, Cooling & Fogging Systems}}</ref>

Artists use this cold water fog technology to make experimental artworks that allow the viewer to safely interact and become fully immersed in the fog.

'''High temperature steam fog''' from underground steam utility lines used for commercial heat transfer, and small boiler sources, are also used by artists for atmospheric visual displays, and as a dynamic projection surfaces.

In the commercial entertainment industry these various water fog systems are used for special effects in movies, and for theme park atmospherics.

Some [[kinetic sculpture]]s contain other gaseous elements, such as the sculptures of [[Jean-Paul Riopelle]]'s ''[[La Joute]]'', which includes [[natural gas]] fire jets, a water fountain, and bronze sculptural elements.

==Contemporary fog sculptures==
[[File:20020717 Expo Yverdon 23.JPG|thumb|right|Blur Building]]
A large scale use of cold water fog is the [[Diller Scofidio + Renfro#Selected projects|Blur Building]] (2002), an exhibition pavilion built for Swiss [[Expo.02]] on [[Lake Neuchatel]] by architects [[Diller Scofidio + Renfro]]. This is an architecture described as "an inhabitable cloud whirling above a lake", built with an atmosphere of fog surrounding a lightweight [[tensegrity]] structure {{convert |20|by|60|by|100|m|ft}}.

The primary visible building material is water. Water pumped from the lake is filtered and atomized to a fine mist through an array of 31,400 high-pressure nozzles. The nozzle pressures are regulated by a computer processor and a smart weather system that reads temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction. The fog created is thus in constant change, an interplay of natural and man-made forces.

Two bridges connect the building with the shore, four hundred visitors at a time can enter the building and be within the fog mass. Inside the fog, one's normal spatial references are lost when immersed within an optical “[[Whiteout (weather)|whiteout]]”, and the “[[white noise]]” of hissing nozzles.<ref>{{cite news | title = diller & scofidio: the blur building | url = http://www.designboom.com/eng/funclub/dillerscofidio.html | access-date = May 29, 2012 | archive-date = July 3, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120703043111/http://www.designboom.com/eng/funclub/dillerscofidio.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Artistic use of steam fog was pioneered in the collaborative ''Center Beam'' artwork by the [[Center for Advanced Visual Studies]] at [[MIT]]. First shown in 1977 at [[documenta]] 6 in [[Kassel, Germany]], it included steam works by [[Joan Brigham]], [[Otto Piene]], and Paul Earls. For ''Center Beam'', a low pressure hot water steam fog became a medium to project lasers, holograms, films and text onto.<ref>{{cite news | title = Centerbeam, The MIT Press | url = http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=7980 | access-date = May 29, 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060910072037/http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=7980 | archive-date = September 10, 2006 }}</ref>

The [[Children's Museum of Pittsburgh]] is planning a new park with a fog sculpture created by [[Ned Kahn]]. Set for completion in 2012, the sculpture will be a {{convert|30|by|30|ft|m|adj=on}} grid of stainless steel poles outfitted with fog nozzles. Kahn said of the sculpture, "When the fog is on, it will appear like a 20-foot-diameter sphere [{{convert|20|ft|m|disp=output only}}] of fog spinning inside the poles."<ref>{{cite web|last=Zlatos|first=Bill|title=Children's Museum of Pittsburgh plans meadow-like park with fog sculpture|url=http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_695060.html|access-date=22 December 2012|date=16 August 2010}}</ref>

In 1998 polish artist [[Zuzanna Janin]] did the installation “What a Hell, What a Heaven” in [[Foksal Gallery]] in Warsaw, Poland, also in 1999 "Memory" in [[Center for CONTEMPORARY ART Zamek Ujazdowski]] in Warsaw, Poland. In 2002 she have done work “Synagogue /Memory” in Center of Contemporary Art (old synagogue building) in Trnava, Slovakia. The work was done from artificial fog used in disco or concerts. 

Other contemporary sculptures in which fog is used as a medium of expression are: ''Harbor Fog'', a viewer responsive artwork in the parkland above Boston's [[Big Dig]] highway; ''Cloud RIngs'' (2006) by Ned Kahn at the 21c Museum Hotel in [[Louisville, Kentucky]]; and the interactive landscape of [[Dilworth Plaza]] at [[Philadelphia City Hall]] (completion date 2013).

== See also ==
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* {{section link|Barrier-grid animation|Kinegram}}
* [[DOVID]]s, Diffractive optically variable image device
* [[Lumino kinetic art]]
* [[Robotic art]]
* [[Sound art]]
* [[Sound installation]]
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== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Sculptures}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gas Sculpture}}
[[Category:Sculptures by material]]
[[Category:Water]]