To mark the launch of The Massachusetts Design Art and Technology Institute (DATMA), the contemporary art center and its partners kicked off a city-wide, collaborative venture called “Summer Winds” from July 1 to September 30, 2019. The centerpiece of the art festival is a large-scale, site-specific architectural art installation called “Silver Current” created by internationally celebrated artist Patrick Shearn and his Poetic Kinetics team.

Composed of ultra-lightweight metalized film, “Silver Current” is the latest of the artist’s series “Skynets” that will move and shimmer with the wind, from 21 feet off the ground to 55 feet in the air. The customized piece is comprised of approximately 4,197 linear feet of rope, 18 hand-tied technical knots, and approximately 40,300 streamers of holographic silver film on a monofilament net, forming an iridescent wind wave form. Harnessing available wind, the artwork rises high into the sky and gently cascades down again, undulating in a display that is striking from a distance and intimately immersive up close.