New installation brings tradition back to Ped Mall after a year off

IOWA CITY — An interactive art exhibit in downtown Iowa City is putting a new spin on foot traffic to areas impacted by construction.

As the location’s third interactive art exhibit, the spinning tops known as Los Trompos may not be figuratively revolutionary for the Iowa City Downtown District. But each piece, based on the age old toy, will spin you in circles to your heart’s content.

Los Trompos, after being on the Iowa City Downtown District’s list “for a long time,” follows installations of Mi Casa, Your Casa in 2022 and The Loop in 2021. After a year off from the imported art from Montreal art production company Creos, this year’s installation invites visitors to relax, hang out and play on the Ped Mall.

“These are much like (the last art exhibit), which were really visible, vibrant and allowed multiple people to use them. That’s what we were looking for with Los Trompos,” said Betsy Potter, executive director of the Iowa City Downtown District (ICDD). “We know it brings a positive piece to a public space and drives foot traffic.”

Los Trompos, which means “spinning tops” in Spanish, is set up through five larger-than-life, three-dimensional pieces crafted from fabric woven in a traditional Mexican style. With vibrant colors and shapes, the sculptures opened on June 21 function as rotating platforms.

Each 8-foot-wide module, large enough to hold several people, comes to life when visitors spin tops from their bases, activating a sense of interaction and teamwork.

The concept by Latin American artists Hector Esrawe and Ignacio Cadena draws inspiration from traditional toys with colorful expression and craftsmanship by Mexican artisans. Inspired by history, art, music, architecture and books, the pair have more than 25 years of experience and an extensive list of projects across North and South America.

“We are inspired by ordinary objects that surround us. We are influenced by our context and our everyday activities which allow us to visit and share with different cultures and different individuals,” the artists said in a statement. “We firmly believe that these are the goals of design: to weave and generate interactions, human connections and emotions, to relate to users, and to enhance and translate our inheritance and skills into new expressions.”

It was first commissioned several years ago by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and has traveled the country ever since. Its six-week stint in Iowa City, ending Aug. 5, is Los Trompos’ second time visiting the Midwest, after Chicago.

With a greater appeal to children, a lot of thought went into the whimsical design of Los Trompos that, essentially, functions like a piece of playground equipment.

And with a short presence this summer, it will help tide businesses and restaurants that rely on foot traffic over to the fall, when the Dubuque Streetscape project started in March will be completed.

“It was a deliberate choice to support foot traffic,” Potter said. “Part of why we’re bringing back (interactive art) this year is because of the impacts of construction.”

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.