Commuters crossing the platform at the Seattle Streetcar’s Westlake Hub station are likely to do a double take. SuttonBeresCuller just put the finishing touches on a new public artwork that’s embedded in the sidewalk at the stop at Westlake and Olive Way.
The neon sculpture – titled Sequence/Consequence – is twisted into the form of a double helix and sits just below the sidewalk’s surface. If you look down through the etched glass hatch cover, the animated light sculpture appears to spiral downward into the ground.
The double helix is a befitting symbol for the cluster of biotech and medical research centers in the nearby South Lake Union neighborhood. The artist team of John Sutton, Ben Beres, and Zac Culler—collectively known as SuttonBeresCuller—designed the artwork so that mirrors would “skew the perceptions of depth and size, creating a seemingly endless field of light.” Watch a time-lapse video of the installation in progress.
The artwork was commissioned with Seattle Department of Transportation 1% for Art funds.
Update: We listed the wrong neighborhood for the artwork. It’s located on the South Lake Union Streetcar line in the downtown retail core.