The next time you’re flying into Kansas City International Airport (MCI), make sure to book a seat with a window to your right for fantastic views of Strange Attractor by Alice Aycock. Planes landing on Runway 19L pass directly by the large outdoor sculpture, which is located inside a roundabout enroute to the economy parking lot.
Day and night alike, its 42-foot-tall zigzags glow bright orange, and soft light emanates from both bells of the metal horn. Together, they form a device that looks like it could broadcast messages to or from outer space.
“The sculpture evokes the spaces created by wind tunnels, which are used to test the aerodynamics of airplane designs,” explains Aycock. “It also suggests future travel through wormholes or time machines imagined in science fiction as well as the astrophysics illustrations of Stephen Hawking.”
The sculpture is especially crisp and vivid following a restoration project MCI completed this May. But that wasn’t always the case.
Originally installed back in 2007, Strange Attractor was fabricated like an airplane—an armature wrapped in aluminum skin. Aycock specifically used dull rather than shiny aluminum to prevent glare for pilots on the nearby airfield; so that portion of the sculpture hadn’t changed much over the years. Other parts, however, had weathered and fallen into disrepair. By the time Arts Program Manager Mark Spencer was hired in 2022, the orange acrylic was fading to white, and the neon lights were barely visible, even at night. Returning the artwork to its original splendor was high on Spencer’s to-do list.
The effort began in 2024 with a cautious inquiry to Aycock for permission. “She was very involved and OK’d our plan,” says Spencer. “We were even able to work with her original lighting designer [Marty Chafkin of PerfectionElectricks]. In the end, she thanked us for taking care of her artwork.”
Funding was another early issue. Per the city’s One Percent for Art Program, initial commission and installation costs were part of the project budget when MCI renovated and expanded its economy parking lot; but future maintenance expenses were not. The Kansas City Aviation Department, which owns and operates MCI, consequently funded the recent $88,000 restoration.
Local contractors replaced the original neon lights with LEDs, repaired reflectors inside the aluminum horn and replaced the faded acrylic portions. They also hid drivers for the new LED fixtures within the artwork, a change that Aycock fully blessed.
If you’re not able to view Strange Attractor from an airplane, the next best option is from a vehicle navigating the roundabout where the sculpture is located. “You circle around and get a great look at it from all angles,” Spencer advises.
