Project Description

The Water-Strider is Pannucci's contribution to a Water Sculpture Project which she has developed to travel around the world. All six of the sculptures (five by other artists) in the project have kinetic elements which are powered by alternative energy sources, i.e. sun, wind and water. The project is in the funding phase.

The Water-Strider itself is fabricated in plexiglas, is 16' long, and constructed in a modular fashion so that no part would be too heavy to carry without assistance. A solar panel is mounted in the bug body with a cold-bend lexan shell over its top. Underneath, in a "picnic cooler", is where the electric system lives. This consists of a jell-cell battery, strobe light, solar-controller, and the ends of the 1/4" side-emitting fiber optic cables. The solar-controller is programmed to begin the bug's blinking pattern from 9 PM to 12 midnight.

The solar-controller was designed by Philippe des Rioux. Fiber optics were donated by Lumenyte International, strobe from Whelen Engineering, solar cell from Siemens, and floats from Nelson A. Taylor.