This is the seventh and final post in a series about Sky Portal in Albuquerque, New Mexico

So now the poles are all there, concrete work’s done, landscape’s done, poles are in.  We started unpacking the cylinder and then lifting it into place, holding it with the crane. There were slings around it, and the crane had an extremely long arm.  It’s held up more or less in the center, as close as we could get.  And we had a ladder going up to attach the cables from the pole to the cylinder.  The cables were already attached to the poles–we actually attached the cables to the top of the poles before they were put up, so we wouldn’t have to get up there.  Now we have to get the other end up.  Anyway, that was quite a process. 

One thing I remember is there was a protective coating on the mirror polish, inside and out.  And once it was uncrated, we started to peel some of that down.  And to see the reflection of the fiber and the landscape for the first time was mind-blowing.  It was awesome.

So on the cylinder, there’s one point on the outside of the cylinder where these sheets of mirror-polished stainless steel meet up, so there’s a seam.  So what we did is we made that an element. From below there’s a little triangle.  I had Hans put his little insignia stamp there and everything, and we decided that it would align with north on the compass rose, and we had to have a seam there. 

Anyway, we have the thing suspended, we’re attaching the cables, it was getting late in the day, everyone was out there. I don’t know how many cables we had to go–not very many, maybe three or four. And with just these few to go, I noticed the seam thing was pointed who knows where!  And I really got upset.  I was just defeated, because it had taken so long already.  And there was really no choice. 

I remember the arts person from Albuquerque saying, well, you know, in every Navajo weaving, there’s purposefully a flaw, there’s one thread that’s off, and that’s spiritual, it’s done for a reason.  And she’s trying to talk me into this idea that there can be a flaw.  And I was like, let’s not play that card just yet.  It’s a good one, but I need to orient this correctly.  I don’t think I can live with the seam going nowhere, right?  So somehow, I don’t know how we did it… It was pretty much dark by the time we got it twisted around and re-attached.  We had to unhook all of them. 

And then I had to tension the turnbuckles. Plus I had the four stabilizer things below that had to also be in line with that cylinder.  It’s something that when you think about it quickly, you think, oh yeah, I’ll just hang this thing from a bunch of poles, it’ll find the center and it’ll all be good.  But if you actually think through it, there are so many different things going on.  There’s landscaping, there’s foundations, they all happen separately and at different times.  There’s poles being put at an angle, there’s cables being cut, and it all has to line up.  It’s a miracle.  It takes precision and a lot of luck.

Anyway, that was the installation of it. I was pretty happy when it was done.  That was probably one of the happiest times ever.  Plus, it’s so great out there.  The people were great.  It’s a really laid-back place and it’s beautiful out there.

Albuquerque, public art, sky portal