Draft:Charles Gadeken

Charles Gadeken

Charles Gadeken is an American industrial artist and sculptor. His large-scale sculptures have been displayed internationally and include commissions from from Burning Man., Insomniac Events, EDC, Coachella, Absolut Vodka, and the Cities of San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Reno. He develops and incorporates technology like LEDs, flame effects, hydraulics, and electricity to support his sculptures. He is an Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford University, a founding member of the Flaming Lotus Girls, and the founder of The Box Shop, an industrial arts space in San Francisco, CA.

Art

Charles' Art is primarily steel sculptures, fire effects, and LED pieces that have been shown and developed over the last 25 years. One of his more recent pieces, Entwined, has been shown in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park four times. His most recent sculpture, Elder Mother, was included in the most recent iteration.

Elder Mother (2023 - Present)

Elder Mother Sculpture in Black Rock City for Burning Man 2023

Elder Mother is a 30' tall steel tree of LED lights, sound, and steel. The trunk of the tree is a sturdy, low-poly geometric structure created from large, flat steel panels. 3072 individually addressable LED cubes hang from Elder Mother’s branches, and can be programmed to display nearly infinite patterns in a billion colors. The structural base is integrated into the tree’s trunk and branches, allowing it to stand freely.

Elder Mother was first shown at Burning Man 2023 and then later installed in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA for the 2023-2024 Winter season.

Entwined (2020 - Present)

Multiple Entwined Sculptures in a field in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Entwined is a series of steel sculptures with LED Light cubes that take the form of shrubs, trees, and a variety of other natural objects. The installation is purposely large and welcoming, with intentional space to support many people gathering together. The trees are meant specifically to be climbed upon, allowing for direct physical interaction with the piece of art. Entwined draws people in at night and has been loved by locals in San Francisco for many years.

The pieces are created from steel tube, steel plate, LED light cubes, and electronic hardware. Over seventy pieces of Entwined have been created, and include baby shrubs (3' tall), shrubs (6' tall), king shrubs (7' tall), 3 full size trees (10-20' tall), seating stumps, and the fallen log.

Squared (2014 - Present)

Squared at Coachella Music Festival in 2014

2SQUARED is a set of two identical 50-foot tall trees made out of square steel tubing, each holding 768 polyurethane cubes with inset full-color LEDs. Sets of 16 cubes are geometrically arranged in a fractal orientation, creating a 30-ft canopy of light. The 45-foot base with bench seating provides room for dozens to witness in the lights of the sculpture. 12-24 Individually addressable LEDs per cube allow precise and specific control of each 3D light pixel, allowing for complex color patterns within each tree. 2SQUARED was commissioned for Coachella 2014, and is now installed in Reno, NV

Tabula (2016, Permanent)

Tabula on the Exterior of a building in Palo Alto, CA.

Tabula is a spatial and architectural exploration of LED light control combined with seismic data. It is a collaboration between Charles and New Zealand-based D.V. Rogers, innovator of seismic light installations. Tabula interprets an open and live seismic data feed made public by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), creating an illuminating display of seismic light on geographical images.

Tabula consists of 63 RGB light panel fins measuring 14’ tall by 3” wide mounted along 2 walls of a building in Palo Alto, CA for a total length of 160 ft. An informational touch screen is located on the ground floor of the building, highlighting earthquake preparedness and awareness as well as explaining the seismic art of Tabula and the data that is being represented.

T2 Corten Tower

T2 (2022, Permanent)

T2 is the second in a series of permanent monolithic towers to celebrate local fauna, and is installed in Los Altos, California. Two images of sandhill cranes, male and female, are cut into the top of the tower on opposing sides, and are illuminated via LEDs on the interior.

T1 (2017, Permanent)

Steel sculpture T1 at dusk, Illuminated.

T1 is the first in a series of permanent monolithic towers to celebrate local fauna in California. For this project, Charles was commissioned to design permanent public art for new construction in Calabasas, California. With the client, he explored several ideas, which culminated in a tower featuring the red-tailed hawk, the Calabasas city symbol. The 12ft tall rectangular monolith is made of corten steel, which creates a rusted patina. Two images of red-tailed hawks, male and female, are cut into the top of the tower on opposing sides. As one moves around the tower, different parts of each image are lit by the sky during the day and internal LEDs at night.

The Flaming Lotus Girls (2000 - Present)

Charles is a founding member of the Flaming Lotus Girls, and has taken a lead role in many of their projects, designing and fabricating these sculptures out of metal, fire, and light. Projects he was involved with include:

• Hand of God (2003)
• The Seven Sisters (2004)
• Angel of the Apocalypse (2005)
• Serpent Mother (2006)
• Mutopia (2008)
• SOMA (2009)