“The Seaholm Water Intake Facility is a site in transition: profoundly empty and striking in its simplicity as architecture remains all that is left of a once-integral part of Austin’s public works. The space and its role in our future are being reimagined, yet it remains a resolutely historic artifact at the intersection of a rapidly developing downtown and the beloved waterfront Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail. It is this multilayered in-between that “Sun Poem” takes place. It offers one year of a different kind of emptiness: two inverse hues of argon plasma illumination on the north and south walls fill the space with light, diffused and reflected on translucent fabric panels that grant color to the air and form to light. During the day, the sun joins the ever-shifting color gradient choreography as daylight turns to blue turns to red and back again. Emphasizing the vitrine-like nature of the building, “Sun Poem” encourages slow, thoughtful observation of change.

The light from the sun and the glowing glass tubes are illuminated by gas in a plasma state—the most common phase of matter in the universe—creating poetic alignment between urban neons and the cycles of the Earth and Sun. This commonality reminds us of the interconnected reality of the built and natural environment, made more poignant in the shadow of infrastructure that once powered the entire city of Austin. It should be noted that the work of the facility’s namesake, Walter E. Seaholm, against the privatization of Austin’s electricity, represents a significant and proud legacy of democratically-focused power production in our city. “Sun Poem” activates the Seaholm Water Intake Facility as a luminous temple of public power and a reminder of the original goals of the spatial designers (Burns & McDonnell) to celebrate the importance of beauty and humanness in our civic infrastructure.

A big thank you to the Austin History Center for their incredibly helpful staff and resources during the research phase and to Kenneth at Neon Sign Source and Clayton Cain for fabrication assistance!