On display in the United States, two site-specific art installations aim the inspire and engage with the public and the surrounding setting.

Abandoned Wall at Halloran Summit Road
Las Vegas

The Paris-born, Los Angeles-based street artist Punkmetender is known for his experimental work that upgrades derelict buildings with installations that “are on the sweet side,” he says of his projects that often depict flowers and 3D aluminum butterflies. A roadside installation outside of Las Vegas, for example, revives an old structure with a pretty-in-pink exterior that is enhanced by those fluttering insects. “I feel the dimension in my artwork takes you in,” he says, “and the butterflies bring out many different emotions, from the spiritual to the beautiful.”

Coshocton Ray Trace
Ohio

Sponsored by local arts organization the Pomerene Center, the temporary Coshocton Ray Trace installation in its namesake Ohio town—made with scrap material from a local coated mesh fabrics manufacturer—is meant to activate the site of a hotel destroyed in a fire. Nearly 200 ribbons of orange fabric were produced and tensioned between the site’s steel balcony and the ground, dancing in the wind for a shimmering effect. “We wanted to create a playful atmosphere and invite interaction with the installation,” says Behrang Behin, cofounder of Jersey City, New Jersey architecture firm Behin Ha. “To our delight, kids were especially uninhibited and would walk through and in between the ribbons, playing them like a harp.” A combination of skilled tradesmen and volunteers from the community were able to take part in the assembly process—an important part of the project, which is meant to “expand visitors’ ideas of what art might mean,” he says.

Coshocton Ray Trace photos by Brad Feinknopf

This article originally appeared in HD’s August 2020 issue.