Coastline is an outdoor sculpture by American artist Jim Sanborn installed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration complex in Silver Spring, Maryland.
[1] Coastline attempts to recreate the effect of waves crashing on the Atlantic coast (represented by rough-cut granite).
[2] This is achieved with artificial waves generated by a turbine and pneumatic blower underneath the sculpture.
The wave frequency is controlled by a remote tide gauge in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, that sends actual wave heights to the sculpture's control mechanism in real time.
[3] Sanborn built a quarter-size scale model of the sculpture and consulted with a wave engineer while doing research for the project.