Lyrical Journeys, located in Nashville International Airport (BN) and completed in 2020, is inspired by the theme of bridges as a rich metaphor for the musical, geographic, and cultural identity of Nashville. As the Cumberland River runs right through the center of Nashville, the city is connected by fifteen bridges, many of them iconic. In music composition, particularly popular and country music, a bridge is a contrasting section that prepares for the return of the verse and the chorus. In stringed musical instruments, the bridge is a piece of wood that supports the strings and transmits the vibrations of the string to the resonating body. Known as “Music City,” Nashville is a bridge connecting people who are in different places, enabling the passage of ideas.

Expressed in a suspended, interactive light sculpture, Lyrical Journeys is a natural progression of how music has been visualized by the arts: from sheet music notation to the synesthetic paintings of Wassily Kandinsky, and architect Daniel Libeskind’s Chamber Works to generative data visualization.

A dancing, meandering path held in tension by sculptural wood bridges invites viewers to become participants. As they walk beneath the sculpture the strings appear to be strumming above, evoking themes of journey, collaboration, and discovery.