The Olympic flame this year was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen!

We enjoyed the Olympic opening ceremonies, though it is always way to long; but if you’ve recorded it, as we did, fast forward to the end. To be honest I feel a bit cheated by NBC because the closing was cut way to short! In the final minutes, the ceremonial lighting of the flame is often dramatic, but this time it far exceeded my wildest expectations. After lighting the cauldron it ascended to rest in front of a kinetic sculpture  by American artistAnthony Howe.

Howe's Misson Statement
“Kinetic sculpture resides at the intersection of artistic inspiration and mechanical complexity. The making of one of my pieces relies on creative expression, metal fabrication, and a slow design process in equal parts.
It aims to alter one’s experience of time and space when witnessed. It also needs to weather winds of 90 mph and still move in a one mile per hour breeze and do so for hundreds of years.”

 

The cannonball-shaped cauldron was lit by Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, a Brazilian marathoner who was famously tackled by a spectator as he was leading the 2004 games.

The spherical cauldron was lit by Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, a Brazilian marathoner who was famously tackled by a spectator as he was leading the 2004 games.

It is profoundly beautiful, as are all his works.  The flame is housed in a cauldron, representing the sun and the sculpture, with spirals that rotate around the cauldron, representing life. That aside, in lieu of 1,000 words, I suggest you watch the all-too-short video at YouTube [below] -then go back and click on any of Howe’s sculptures to see them in action. His works are truly beautiful –on a deeply primordial & spiritual level. Like a real world fractal!