Flight Wind Reeds

*Flight Wind Reeds*, by artists Mary and Bill Buchen, is a kinetic sculpture commissioned in 2003. The artwork’s five aluminum and stainless-steel, aerodynamic elements — each with brass bells — are references to the mechanics of flight and the abstracted parts of an airplane. This work is the second in the Buchens’ series of kinetic sculptures, created after the artists took inspiration from the television images of Russian fighter pilots performing aerial stunts. The pilots would fly their planes up to 700 miles per hour and then, suddenly, cut the engines off, causing the planes to flip up and backward. The sleek, aerodynamic forms of the reeds are designed to mimic this kind of behavior; they perform a similar stunt in response to wind force, spinning and then flipping up. *Flight Wind Reeds* makes visible the invisible — the motion, pace, sound, and physical energy of the wind. The sculpture also greets visitors approaching East and West buildings from the adjacent car lot or the Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park. It’s a fitting sight for those just arriving, as they might get the feeling of being whisked away to another world, venturing ahead to the art that awaits them.