Geometric Light Sculptures Have Arrived At Patricia's Green

Photos: Ayo Suber/Hoodline

As promised, two new geometric light sculptures have popped up at Patricia's Green.

Made of laser-cut steel, the sculptures, which were selected in an open call by the San Francisco Arts Commission, were installed over the course of two nights this week.

Their creators, Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu of sculpture and arts collective HYBYCOZO, told us that they took about three months to design from start to finish, and another month to fabricate.

"A big goal of our art is to help people think outside of the box," Filipchuk said. "We work in offices that are boxes. There are angles other than boxes or squares, and 359 degrees other than 90."

Yelena Filipchuk stands inside the larger of the two sculptures.

The sculptures were originally intended to be large enough to allow visitors to stand inside, but due to safety issues and concerns about homeless campers, the city asked HYBYCOZO to close them up. Visitors can still bathe in the sculptures' light, though, as they're designed to cast shadows of patterns 10 to 15 feet out.

The lights inside the sculptures cast patterned shadows.

To make up for closing them up, the designers also included a peephole in the larger of the two sculptures, so visitors can peer inside. "We wanted to make a space you could stick your head into, without ruining the sculpture or the pattern," said Filipchuk.

Filipchuk and Beaulieu told us that they started HYBYCOZO as an outgrowth of their love of geometric patterns and art.

"We are inspired by physics, mathematics, and Islamic geometry," Filipchuk said. "All of these things are universal. A person from ancient Greece or ancient Iran would know what this is. Aliens would know, too."

Beaulieu works to install lights in the smaller sculpture.

While the smaller sculpture is providing some new life where the green's former pepper tree once stood, Filipchuk is particularly proud of the bigger sculpture, which she believes may be the largest one of its kind in the world. "We may have the world record," she said.

The two artists have also enjoyed spending time in Hayes Valley as they readied the sculptures, which will be in place for a year. "We really enjoyed getting to know the neighborhood, and our time spent here," Filipchuk said. "We hope people enjoy the sculptures, and that they will inspire more art in public spaces."