The Chicago Prayer Wheel Project is an interactive traveling sculpture.  Viewers are asked to participate buy composing their own prayer or wish for Chicago on a small piece of paper and inserting it into one of the wheels, then gently spinning all the wheels.

The Chicago Prayer Wheels are site specific to Chicago.  The surfaces of the wheels are decorated with the Chicago bike map, the skyline, the cardinal directions, and numbers.  When spun, the wheels will form a coordinate, which can be found in the Chicago city grid.  The wheels are portable; they are mounted to a bicycle trailer.  This enables me to bring The Chicago Prayer Wheels to different locations.  The project is activated by viewer participation; by writing a prayer of their own, and inserting it through a slit, into one of the prayer wheels and spinning them all.  The prayers will be transcribed onto the internet click here.

What is a prayer wheel?

A prayer wheel is a Tibetan spiritual technology.  Contained within the spin-able cylinder, which may vary in size from a hand held device, to over six feet tall, is a scroll with a sacred mantra written thousands of times.  The idea is that when the wheel is spun, the mantra radiates out over all of existence as a type of blessing.  The exterior of the wheels are commonly decorated with the mantra as well.

6.9.08

The Chicago Prayer Wheel Project is currently being reconstructed. The new version will hit the road in the middle of the summer 2008.

The Chicago Prayer Wheel Project was covered by Chicago Public Radio's Jason DeRose, on 848, on 10.11.06. Listen to it Click Here.

And was at The Freedom Museum, 11.21.06-12.05.06.