Free Flow can be experienced in many ways because of the convergence of its multiple layers first, a waterfall; second, three cast bronze watercourses; and third, a series of detailed relief images on the three bronze watercourses. A visitor may choose to focus on any one or a combination of these layers to find enjoyment and meaning in the sculpture.

 

The real waterfall, textured by a slight amount of turbulence, provides the viewer an opportunity for contemplation and meditation, as do all waterfalls. The three bronze reliefs, once a molten, fluid stream of bronze, feature highly polished bands with an S-shaped ogee curve, the shape commonly used in water spillways to induce the best hydraulic flows. The watercourses collectively represent an actual waterfall.

 

The detailed relief images on each of the three bronze watercourses flow from one to the next and are often transformed as they progress. As a whole the images symbolize the vast reach and breadth of IIHR’s fundamental hydroscience research, practical application and education, as well as that of hydroscience in general. At the “headwaters” (the top) of each watercourse are images that symbolize major ongoing challenges; in the middle of each are images relating to IIHR activities in education, research and engineering applications; and at the bottom, images portray elements fundamental to the development of hydroscience and of IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering. Although the content of each image may be examined, the reliefs are purposefully designed to offer insights into more universal concepts. The images do not form a narrative history, but rather are juxtaposed symbols, as are those used in poetry, that work together to create the artwork and its meaning.

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VORTICES:

Swirling fluid motion that challenges hydraulic researchers.

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TURBULENCE:

Erratic fluid flows that defy scientific description.

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PATH LINES OF CAVITATION:

The formation of air bubbles in liquid flowing swiftly past a solid body,

a process indicative of the complexity of fluid flows.

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a river speaks to each of us...

audibly only when it encounters obstruction or the wind makes waves lap its banks; yet, even in its silence, or the wind makes waves lap its banks; when it rushes into a newfound channel or when it falls over a dam in turbulence.

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