GRAVITY GROUP ANNOUNCES 65 TON PUBLIC ART PROJECT

Atlanta-based Corporation GRAVITY GROUP, LLC has designed a 135,000 lb. sculpture aimed to allow the public to explore its relationship to the force of gravity. The massive "Temple of Gravity" will be assembled at the Burning Man Arts Festival held in Nevada during August 2003.

Atlanta, Ga (PRWEB) July 20, 2003 -- Gravity Group, LLC, an Atlanta-based corporation of artists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, has announced construction of a 65-ton architectural sculpture entitled The Temple of Gravity." The open air dome made of granite and steel will be erected in August 2003 during the Burning Man Arts Festival held in Nevada. Funding for the project is provided by the combination of a $20,000 grant from Burning Man and a unique business plan devised to raise further capital.

Built from granite quarried in Georgia, The Temple of Gravity" is being designed and fabricated in Southwest Atlanta. It will travel across country on three flatbed trucks for assemblage in Nevadas Black Rock Desert. Upon arrival, this massive sculpture will be constructed in one day to stand for the entire period of the Burning Man Arts Festival, August 25 through September 1, 2003.

The Temple of Gravity is a rock cathedral designed to allow the public to explore its relationship to the force of gravity. Five 13,000-pound granite slabs will be angled to hang between 6 and 12 feet above ground level. The supporting structure is a steel dome which also bears the weight of a suspended fire caldron. This design will be completely open to the sky, without a roof or walls, its wood burning fire to provide both light and heat during the chilly desert nights of Burning Man.

To ensure the Temples structural integrity, Gravity Groups engineering team leader Corbett Griffith of the Georgia Tech School of Mechanical Engineering has performed safety design and structural analysis for the dome, which measures 24 feet tall and 50 feet in diameter. Architectural safety parameters allow 4 inches of deflection in the curved steel legs of the sculpture, yet results of a finite element analysis (FEA) show that the structure will flex less than 1/4 of an inch. With this design, the Temple will remain structurally sound for generations," affirms Griffith.

After Burning Man, the sculpture will be installed at one of a few locations being considered as part of the Gravity Groups business plan. There is a possibility of the Temple briefly traveling to various museums in the US and abroad so a wider audience may experience its unique design. The domes ultimate destiny is to be acquired by an art collector, museum, public entity or corporation as an enduring public sculpture.

The Gravity Group business model is a new paradigm for funding public art in a commercial economy. By forming a corporation to fund and control the project," states business partner Keith Helfrich, we plan to make large-scale art a viable business proposition."

The projects operating costs will total more than $60,000, with the balance covered by investors seeking to profit from the sculptures sale. Temple creator, Atlanta artist Zachary Coffin, has more than a decade of experience in large-scale art installations. For this, his largest endeavor to date, Coffin asserts, No more of this hat in hand starving artist routine, were going in as a business."

ABOUT ZACHARY COFFIN:

Atlanta native and Cooper Union graduate Zachary Coffin has spent the last decade building large-scale sculptures in New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Birmingham. For information, call (404) 753-8581, visit www.zacharycoffin.com, or email zach@templeofgravity.com.

ABOUT GRAVITY GROUP, LLC:

Gravity Group, LLC was formed upon the award of $20,000 by the Burning Man arts festival to build an unprecedented sculpture entitled The Temple of Gravity." The purpose of the corporation is to finance, design and assemble the Temple of Gravity, as well as to facilitate its sale. For general information or investment inquiries, call (770) 335-3700, visit www.templeofgravity.com or email info@templeofgravity.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Zachary Coffin, Temple Creator
Phone: (404)753-8581
Email: zach@templeofgravity.com
URL: www.zacharycoffin.com

Keith Helfrich, Business Partner
Phone: (770) 335-3700
Email: keith@templeofgravity.com
URL: www.templeofgravity.com