Ball Nogues Studio, Linking Hand Screen

2010 Mercy Housing, San Francisco, CA

Linking Hand Screen is comprised of suspended chains (catenaries); each link in the chains is a hand. Using digital design and fabrication processes, each of the hundreds of hands, cut out of acrylic, are encased within the store front glass frames by glass panels attached to the mullions on the inside. The hand gestures were generated through working with teens during an outreach program.

The 10th and Mission Teen Center window project Linking Hand Screen is an opportunity to blend the imagery of the universal symbol of the human hand with techniques borrowed from glass jewelry making. We use the hand image to evoke hard work, cooperation and tolerance. It is our aim to make an exciting work that is inspiring to teens while creating a composition with color, intricacy that will be appreciated by the casual passerby from the sidewalk.