An odd assemblage of glass lenses has appeared in California’s Joshua Tree National Park as part of an experimental kinetic artwork by artist Vincent Leroy.
Named Floating Lenses, the piece is one in a series of explorations using Fresnel lenses – a type of etched glass used in lighthouses to concentrate the beam. Leroy had previously installed one of these mobiles on a rooftop in Paris.
The Joshua Tree mobile uses lightweight materials that allow it to move in the breeze, capturing light and creating different viewpoints on the surrounding landscape.
Over the course of a day, the lenses rotate around one another, as well as the framework of the mobile, creating the sense that they’re floating in mid-air. The sculpture comes into its own as the day draws to a close, and the sun sets over the artwork, capturing a blaze of ever-changing colour and perspectives of the desert scape.
