In November 2002, a time capsule containing children’s art work was buried near an outdoor sculpture titled, All One, on the Kapiʻolani Community College campus. The sculpture is one of five sun-aligned sculptures located around the world. The World Sculpture Project was created by artist Kate Pond who buried the accompanying time capsules between 1994 and 2007. Each capsule will be opened in 2015, close to specific sun alignment times.
The Kapiʻolani capsule will be uncovered on Thursday, November 19, 9 a.m. at the site of All One, located on the corner of Makapuʻu Avenue and Diamond Head Road. Pond will be on hand to talk about her art which allowed her to reach across cultures and time zones to mark time using light and shadows.
Some capsules have already been uncovered, with the last capsule, “Telling Stones”, scheduled for opening on the first week of December.
Capsules
- Solekko: Oslo, Norway, June 3, 2015 (close to summer solstice)
- Himeguri: Izumi, Sendai, Japan, June 22, 2015 (on summer solstice)
- Zigzag: Stanstead, Quebec, Canada, September 23, 2015 (on equinox)
- All One: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, USA, November 19, 2015 (close to the Pleiades heliacal rising)
- Telling Stones: Mapua, Richmond, New Zealand, during the first week in December 2015 (close to the Pleiades heliacal rising)
About All One
The sculptures in Hawaiʻi and New Zealand share a Polynesian Pleiades star cluster alignment that occurs in November to early December. The rising of the Pleiades is in the east as the sun sets in the west. This celestial event is called the makahiki by the Hawaiians and the makariki by the Maori in New Zealand.
Said Hardy Spoehr, former executive director of Papa Ola Lōkahi, “This is a universal project that encourages inner reflections on the indigenous people it honors.”
The sculpture has meanings on several levels. Robin Fujikawa, professor of philosophy at Kapiʻolani CC, offers a unique meaning, “The sculpture welcomes all who enter the campus with the promise of opportunity. Upon entry, the sculpture is in the shape of the Chinese character that means ‘enter.’ Upon exit however, when seeing the sculpture from a reverse angle, the character reads, ‘person.’ Thus, when one exits the college to go out into the world, one leaves with a clearer vision, with a gift to offer the world. The person who leaves possesses a unique gift to give to the world.”
About the artist
Many of Pond’s sculptures document time. She claims the inspiration for her sculptures comes from curves she sees in nature. She transfers these images into calligraphic strokes, first with ink and a brush. She later cuts the “strokes” out of corten steel and bends them into shape. These small works are the maquettes for the much larger, final steel sculptures.
For more information on Kate Pond’s World Sculpture Project, visit the project website or read the Kapiʻolani Community College news release.
—By Louise Yamamoto
