First Impressions
Gatton Park on the Town Branch was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with LexArts, to commission artists and designers from around the world to reinterpret the history and ecology of Town Branch through public art in the park. The winning art piece, called First Impressions, was designed by Jason Klimoski of StudioKCA. It is a small amphitheater built out of carbon negative concrete in the shape of a fossil — to represent the limestone geologic history of downtown Lexington. Steel strips of words in between each concrete piece of the fossil will mark different phases in history. The shape of the fossil uses the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical concept found throughout nature.
— StudioKCA
First Impressions - designed by Jason Klimoski of StudioKCA
“There’s nothing more magical than finding a fossil and knowing you’re the first person to have seen it for 150 million years.” - Sir David Attenborough
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Our sculpture proposal, First Impressions, seeks to draw attention to the critical role all things big and small play in shaping what is to come. We hope to create a piece that makes visitors aware of our shared history on this planet, and encourages exploration and stewardship of our shared environment, in the hopes of making a positive impact on it.”
EXPLORE “NATURE’S MATH”
First Impressions is embedded in the landscape of Gatton Park on the Town Branch, and takes its form from a giant fossil. Visitors can walk, sit, and climb on a sculpture based on the Fibonacci Sequence.
Sometimes called the Golden Spiral, the Fibonacci sequence appears throughout nature as a mathematical pattern in shells, sunflowers, pinecones, and many other forms.
HISTORIC TIMELINE SCRIBED INTO THE SHELL OF A FOSSIL
The piece is comprised of approximately 120 interlocking precast concrete panels bolted to a steel frame. Between each concrete panel is a flush-mounted steel “rib plate” inscribed with a historic event from our shared past — from the beginning of Earth’s geological record, to present day Lexington. Visitors are invited to read these historical events as they sit, climb, and explore the curved ridges of the shell.
Each panel joint is scribed with a historic event.
HELPS TO KEEP THE AIR CLEAN
To reduce its carbon footprint and have a positive impact on the environment, we hope to build First Impressions’ concrete panels from 24,300 tons of locally sourced, reclaimed concrete from local construction projects and the Town Branch development. Doing so will not only divert this material from Lexington’s waste stream, it will capture approximately 900 kg of carbon dioxide and save 1,360 gallons of water per ton, equating to 21,870,000 kg of captured carbon dioxide, and 33,048,000 gallons of water saved. Additionally, our hope is to introduce a photocatalytic additive to the precast panels that will actively work to sequester and dissolve CO2 in the air, helping to keep the air (and the sculpture) clean on a daily basis.
Additive mixture in concrete panels sequesters CO2 and removes it from the air.
ILLUMINATES AT NIGHT
LED fixtures are planned that will fit under the rib plate and will illuminate the shape at each joint, so that even at night when viewed from around the park, the shape will be visible within the overall landscape of Gatton Park on the Town Branch.
LED lights within the joint lines light up at night.
FIELD TRIP GUIDE FOR STUDENTS
Gatton Park on the Town Branch is teaming up with teachers from Fayette County Public Schools to develop a field trip guide to accompany the art design — to ensure the piece is useful to teachers throughout the district and to encourage classrooms to visit the park. The guide will cover curriculum standards and activities for math, science, social studies, and language arts.
