Buckyball
Buckyball
Artist
Leo Villareal
(born 1967)
Date2012
MediumAluminum tubing clad with LED lights atop aluminum plinth
Dimensions30ft. x 144 in. x 144 in. (914.4 x 365.8 x 365.8 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2014.3
Accession number
2014.3
On View
On viewLabel TextLeo Villareal is a sculptor who uses light as his medium. Through the technology of LED bulbs and computer software that Villareal designs, the artist creates ever-changing displays of moving light and color. Named in honor of the theorist and engineer Buckminster Fuller, Buckyball features two nested geometric spheres that take the shape of a Carbon 60 molecule. The structure is covered in LED tubes capable of producing 16 million distinct colors.
Buckyball is illuminated from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day. The light display changes from the white-light daytime sequence to a vibrantly colored evening sequence shortly after dark.
