SUMMARY

Jeff Kahn is an internationally renowned kinetic artist who lives on a farm in Lenhartsville Pennsylvania. His professional experience spans jewelry, furniture, wood, computer-controlled sculpture, and most famously his wind driven kinetic sculpture. Jeff creates everything himself from his personal shop, where he designs, fabricates parts, builds all of the structures, and finishes everything. “Wind Shear” is large scale kinetic art that elegantly moves in less than 2 mph breezes. The sculpture is made from aluminum and stainless steel, effortlessly gliding and pirouetting on finely balanced pivot points.  Wind Shear is positioned to draw you into the park in a straight visual line from the parking lot, through the Wander In Wonder entry arch, under the entry kiosk overhang, and through the curved trail that wraps around and under the sculpture for you to experience it from many vantage points.

ABOUT THE SCULPTURE

Wind Shear is large scale kinetic art that elegantly moves in less than 2 mph breezes.  Jeff creates everything himself from his personal shop: design, fabricates parts, builds all of the structures, and finishes everything.  The sculpture is made from aluminum and stainless steel, effortlessly gliding and pirouetting on well balanced pivot points.

ABOUT THE SCULPTOR

Jeff is an nationally renowned kinetic art sculptor who has commissioned pieces around the world.  He has been increasing the complexity and beauty of his moving sculptures for several decades.  He lives on a farm in rural Pennsylvania with his wife (and a really big shop). Back in 1971, Jeff began working on Jewelers Row in Philadelphia. By 1973, he had set up his own studio and began designing, producing and selling his own line of custom jewelry.  From 1976 until 1980, he attended Pennslylvania Academy of Fine Art, where he continued working with furniture design, jewelry, and then sculpture. Jeff’s interest in sculpture led to his experimentation with different mediums including wood, metal, glass and electronics. Over the next few years, he worked in machine shops, jewelry shops, and furniture manufacturers.  He learned the tools and processes needed to make things. In 1984, he began making computer operated sculptures that would activate up to 5,000 light emitting diodes (LEDs), thus imparting movement to the sculptures. These pieces led to the development of more types of kinetic sculptures and made progress towards his ultimate goal of creating large kinetic outdoor pieces of sculpture that moved naturally, free from wires, lights and technology. Jeff’s current kinetic sculpture collection “Unseen Forces” explores balance, gravity, and the way almost imperceptible air currents interact with them. “Gravity, something thought to make things fall, is the motivating force and the element that holds these kinetic sculptures together,” he says.  The collection, which includes up to 35-foot high outdoor pieces composed of stainless steel, aluminum and titanium, combine Kahn’s nearly 50 years of experience as a maker, jeweler, machinist and wood worker. “The best part is assembling the finished sculpture and watching how it takes on a life of its own,” Kahn says. Jeff’s sculptures are exhibited in private collections, corporate settings, and museums throughout the nation and beyond.