Tahku is a life-scale bronze sculpture of a breaching humpack whale, created by sculptor R.T. “Skip” Wallen. Commemorating 50 years of Alaskan statehood, the sculpture sits within a new park along Juneau’s downtown waterfront.
Skip’s intent for the sculpture was that it be mounted within an elliptical infinity-edged pool which would reflect the waters of the Gastineau Channel and the mountains of Douglas Island beyond. In his search for a partner to create the water aspects of the project Skip met with Chris, then at WESCO Fountains in Florida, and the two quickly formed a strong relationship as Artists. A 1/12 scale bronze maquette was used to lay out the design for the sculpture’s basin, ensuring that it would be large enough for the whale to look as though it is jumping out of a substantial body of water while not excessively ballooning the project’s budget. With the basin perimeter established, the water design effort shifted to the splash effects. Photos and video of breaching whales were studied leading to the design of nozzles with custom-fabricated stainless steel deflectors which replicate the large, irregular droplets created when the massive animals break through the surface of the sea.
Re-creating the effects of water streaming off of the animal took a special effort and attention to detail; to ensure that the water looked like it was streaming naturally down from the body and flippers, as opposed to spraying, a stainless steel manifold with 22 individually-controlled feeds is situated in a chamber beneath the sculpture. Each of these lines feeds a bronze distribution chamber which is fabricated as part of the sculpture’s skin; the water flows through hundreds of small holes drilled through the sculpture. These holes, hidden among the surface texture of the sculpture, allow a large volume of water to flow from the sculpture at a low velocity thereby avoiding any sort of squirting. The final effect is quite convincing, and the Artist, the City, and visitors have all been thrilled by the final outcome.
The project was built by Admiralty Construction, Inc. of Juneau. During construction Chris, then with OTL, visited the project to follow up on the details in a Construction Administration role and ensure that the project’s original design intent was achieved.
