Adrien Segal hired Gizmo Art Production to fabricate and install her hanging sculpture.
Client: Adrien Segal
Category: Public Art
Location: Capital One Building, San Francisco, California
Date: January 2017
Gizmo Art Production partnered with interdisciplinary artist Adrien Segal to fabricate and install California Water Rights, a monumental, data-driven installation permanently installed within a digital lab at the Capital One Building in San Francisco.
Spanning three stories within an atrium and suspended above two diagonal stairways, the immersive sculpture transforms complex water allocation data into a powerful spatial experience. A meandering aluminum “river” flows overhead, from which 1,072 strands of color-coded ball chain are suspended — representing the 1,072 largest permitted water users in California.
Each strand’s length corresponds directly to the volume of water allocated to that entity. Each ball within the chain represents one acre-foot of water — nearly 326,000 gallons — and the color coding identifies the type of water user (governmental, corporate, individual, and other categories). As viewers move through the stairways and beneath the suspended field of chains, statistical abstraction becomes bodily experience.
Segal’s installation provokes urgent questions about environmental sustainability, public policy, and social equity — asking how society chooses to manage and commodify one of its most precious shared resources.
Fabrication & Engineering
To realize this ambitious suspended installation safely within an active architectural environment, Gizmo developed a comprehensive fabrication and installation strategy.
The flowing river form was precision water-jet cut from aluminum, engineered for structural integrity while maintaining visual lightness. Each of the 1,072 chain strands was measured, cut, color-coded, and hand-assembled to correspond exactly to SWRCB data. Working closely with the artist, Gizmo’s team carefully attached the varying chain lengths to ensure accuracy, clarity, and visual consistency.
Because the sculpture spans an open atrium above diagonal stairways, installation presented unique challenges. Gizmo engineered and constructed a temporary structural stage system that safely bridged the stair void, allowing installers to bolt the suspended framework securely into place while maintaining safe access and protecting the surrounding architecture.
Custom mounting systems were developed to:
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Support long-term structural load
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Maintain precise spatial alignment across three stories
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Integrate seamlessly with the building’s interior finishes
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Ensure permanent durability in a high-traffic corporate environment
Translating Data into Experience
California Water Rights exemplifies Gizmo’s ability to translate complex conceptual artwork into durable, buildable form. Through precision engineering, advanced fabrication techniques, and thoughtful installation logistics, data becomes architecture — and architecture becomes a lived, immersive experience.
Dimensions: 34 x 16 x 32 feet (10.3 x 4.8 x 9.7 meters)
Medium: Aluminum, ball chain
Credit: Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Mario Gallucci.
Art Consultant: Heidi McBride & Co.
Data Source: California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)
