In the late 20^th century, the lovable city of San Jose was graced by Memories of Flight, a multi-media installation made of welded steel, aluminum mesh, slide projectors, and computer parts. It was a large and ghostly sculpture in four sections ranging in size from six feet to fifteen feet tall, ten feet wide. This sculpture by Marta Thoma Hall was commissioned by the National Museum of Art in Costa Rica.

The artist has once again graced San Jose, but this time in California. According to the following official press release by Velodyne Acoustics, Marta Thoma Hall has repurposed discarded bottles and headphones to make a new work of art.

Artist Makes Sculpture Transforming Bottles and Headphones

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — “Brain Works” sculpture in San Jose, Calif., is the latest public art installation for Velodyne Acoustics, Inc. President, Marta Thoma Hall. For Hall, the process of designing a new line of headphones or subwoofers is no different than creating, say, a piece of sculpture.

A very large piece of sculpture.

Recently, Hall completed “Brain Works,” a 30-foot tall sculpture for Bestor Art Park located in the Martha Gardens neighborhood of San Jose. In 2010, the City of San Jose held a competition to create a landmark sculpture for the neighborhood, and Hall’s design was selected.

“Brain Works is a tribute to the San Jose Arts Community. After the sculpture was installed, it looked to me like a flower. I had a neck and brain in mind,” said Hall. One can imagine the tall poles represent a neck leading to shoulders and a head made of coiled steel. Smaller steel branches hold a web of recycled glass bottles and a network of spoons. The composition is plant-like and suggestive of energy flow.

Hall’s “Brain Works” is only the latest in a series of commissioned sculptures made of recycled and unexpected materials. Other Thoma Hall installations include: “Cosmos Clock” for Florida State University, “Water Source” for the Water Park in Goodyear, Arizona, “Inside Out,” at Vertigo Gallery in London, “Stretch” at the Costa Rica Museum of Art, and “Journey of a Bottle” in the Walnut Creek Main Library.

Marta Thoma Hall leads Velodyne Acoustics, Inc. along with Inventor and CEO, David Hall. “David and I have a mutual enthusiasm for new ideas… I approach industrial design as sculpture and think about composition, shape, and materials. The process is the same whether you are designing a 30-foot sculpture or a pair of headphones,” Hall said and continued, “David has been inventing groundbreaking robotic technology. Working with David inspires me to push the limits of design.”

Hall created a family of headphones for Velodyne that include Bluetooth and noise cancelling features. The headphones can be customized with an array of headphone covers with artistic and leather designs. See http://www.velodyne.com.

About Velodyne:

Founded in 1983 and based in California’s Silicon Valley, Velodyne Acoustics is a technology company known worldwide for its audio equipment and LiDAR sensors. LiDAR is sold for applications including autonomous vehicles, aerial UAV navigation, and more. See http://www.velodynelidar.com/.