Earth Wheel

Permanent Sound Sculpture in the Playground of the Sir Frederick Fraser School for the Visually Impaired in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Custom-Cast Cement Sewer Sections, Hand Made Mechanical Instruments, Various Metals, Woods, Bearings, Wheels, Found Instruments, Hardware, Rubbers and Plastics.

Children activate the sculpture by shaking, pushing and rotating the large outer wheel (different actions, rotation directions and rotation speeds produce different sounds). The surrounding brick wheelchair platform allows for people of all mobility levels to play with the sculpture. Even very low functioning children who can only rock back and forth, still can activate the bells and shakers. Children can also lay down on the top platform to feel the vibrations of the sounds resonate throughout their bodies. As well, the crude images imbedded into the top serve as a tactile map to the location and shape of the instruments hidden within the sculpture.

Designed and built by Bill Wallace, Steve Trussoni, and Pete Wallace

Photo by WTW