Client: Broward County Cultural Division Public Art & Design

Overview

“Exuburance” by Alice Aycock was inspired by diagrams and animations of waves, water movement and wind energy as it flows around creating random whirlpools, touching down sporadically, and forming a multifaceted massing of forms. The complex aluminum assemblage presents as intertwining white and blue rosettes reflecting the beauty and foliage of the tropical coastline, as its shapes also duplicate the ocean’s whitecaps, wind, and vortexes of energy rising in the center of the site. The tumbling quality appears as though myriad waves or petals are curling onto themselves while bursting forth as a cascade of tidal energy or exotic blossoms. The dynamic artwork’s focal placement in the center of a traffic circle at Port Everglades creates a commanding presence and allows viewers to experience shifting perspectives and transformation as the vantage point changes, and serves as a landmark for wayfinding.

Goals

The goal of this project was to produce an iconic artwork to transform Eller Drive in Port Everglades, one of the world’s top three busiest cruise ports as well as a main cargo and petroleum port. The exterior sculpture is functionally integrated for wayfinding and beautification at the Midport section of the Port, specifically the area utilized by passengers of Cruise Terminal 25 and the near-by Cruise Terminal 21. The presentation is isolated within a 55-foot-wide traffic circle and its scale of 12-feet by 8-feet by 29-feet anchors “Exuberance” as a landmark. The combination of wind and water inherent in an ocean port location was the central inspiration for the design, and the artwork’s white and blue colors echo the signature colors of Celebrity Cruise Lines based at this terminal, while also reflecting the singular environment of the Everglades.

Process

The scale and complexity of this design required experienced and meticulous collaboration between the artist Alice Aycock and her engineering and fabrication teams. The circular and twisting construction entailed skill, versatility, innovation, and precision to capture the force of wind and wave energy along with an interpretation of tropical lushness. Coordination between the artist, program manager and Port team resulted in achieving all requirements and goals. Success of the team’s collaboration produced a structural creation able to withstand the challenges in this hurricane-susceptible zone, simultaneously achieving an iconic, artistic enhancement for the unique environment of Port Everglades.

Additional Information

Artist Alice Aycock is a world-renowned artist who has exhibited in major museums and galleries nationally, as well as in Europe and in Japan. Her work can be found in preeminent collections throughout the world including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum. She exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Documenta VI and VIII and the Whitney Biennial. Broward County enjoys another of her exceptional creations at the Central Broward Regional Park. Her complex sculptures fulfill multiple goals of placemaking in public places as well as creating memorable artworks.