Quaking Gold

Quaking Gold — public art in Glenarm Plaza, Denver, Colorado, USA.

Quaking Gold plays off of the kinetic Aspen Light sculpture positioned nearby, celebrating the spectacular transformation of Colorado's landscape in the fall. The artwork's design features vivid pools of golden yellow, outlined in warm reds and oranges, all set against a vast blue background. It abstracts the iconic image of an autumn aspen canopy shimmering against the clear, blue Denver sky. As the canopy ripples in the breeze, these bright pockets of warm color shift and dance overhead like fluttering leaves. It brings the dynamic, rushing beauty of the mountains directly into the downtown corridor, performing an elegant, kinetic ballet guided by Denver winds.

Inspired by the brilliant contrast of Colorado’s quaking aspen forests at peak autumn, Quaking Gold translates shimmering golden leaves against a clear blue sky into a suspended kinetic canopy above downtown Denver.

Approximately 12,300 individual streamers made from ultra-lightweight kite fabric are attached to an engineered mesh structure designed to respond dynamically to natural wind currents. The lightweight material allows individual streamers to move and visually blend even in subtle breezes, creating the impression of three-dimensional, dancing paint strokes in the sky.

Quaking Gold is part of Patrick Shearn’s Skynet Series, a collection of suspended kinetic aerial sculptures made from thousands of ultra-lightweight colorful streamers attached to engineered mesh. The installations harness natural wind currents to visualize local wind patterns, transforming invisible movement in the atmosphere into visible movement overhead.