Biggest, Slowest-Moving, Heat Powered Flower in Pasadena

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Audrey, a nature inspired five-petal flower (Photo – Laramee Haynes)

There are two very different projects happening at the corner of Los Robles and Del Mar.

By Teri Trendler

On the northwest corner of Los Robles and Del Mar, a four-story luxury condo building is being constructed. On the northeast corner, in the sprawling “learning garden” of Throop Church, art named Audrey is being installed.

Laramee Haynes, the owner of Haynes Landscape Design, grew up in Iowa watching grass grow and sheep graze.  The slow and sometimes surprising movements of plants and nature inspired him to create sculpture that is thermo-kinetic and bio-mimicking, such as a three-petal flower for his own yard, and a five-petal flower for display this Spring at the “Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts” in Descanso Gardens.

The sculpture Haynes created for the Descanso Gardens show is 8-feet tall when closed and 15-feet tall when wide open, and it is named Audrey after the man-eating plant in “Little Shop of Horrors.”  Haynes explained “I used aluminum because it is an element of the earth, resists corrosion and is easy to machine, shape and recycle.  The shiny gray color contrasts beautifully with green plants.  Ambient heat powers the sculpture.  It opens as temperature rises, responding to its environment.”

Laramee Haynes taking measurements (Photo – Teri Trendler)

Audrey was dismantled and temporarily homeless after the Descanso exhibit ended on May 19.  Haynes now is reassembling Audrey in her new home at Throop.

Rev. Tera Klein, pastor at Throop, recognized Audrey as an artistic extension of Throop’s permaculture organic garden and rooftop solar panels, “We were immediately charmed by Audrey and delighted Laramee let her grace our property. Our congregation is dedicated to earth care…and respect for the interdependent web of all existence.”

So, stop by and meet Audrey, the biggest, slowest-moving, heat powered flower in Pasadena, and maybe in the world.

> Time-lapse video by Laramee Haynes. Estimated installation date: June 20, 2019.

Teri Trendler, a professor at Pasadena City College, has been a resident of Pasadena for over twenty years.