Works in Progress | Nina Borgia-Aberle

"Utah Bit and Mine" model, Bingham Junction Light Rail Station, Midvale City, Utah, The Utah Transit Authority, In collaboration with Joe O'Connell (Creative Machines) and Blessing Hancock (Skyrim Studio).

Our concept for Bingham Junction relights an historic sentiment while inspiring excitement for the future. We have identified mining and industry as cultural connections from the past to the present. These two resources exemplify the identity, history and values of this rapidly changing community. A new identity is on the horizon for Midvale City and it is important to recognize the cultural significance of past achievements. The railroad played an important role in Midvale's past and continues to play an important role in its future. We propose to create two interactive light sculptures that celebrate the mining and industrial history of Midvale. In searching for meaningful forms for our sculptures we kept returning to the 'O' and the 'X'. We first saw circles; in the spiral of the mine, in train parts including wheels, stacks and lights, in smelter stacks, in the mining equipment, in all the rivets used to join plates in mining and railroad equipment, and in buggy wheels.

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