John T. Scott brought together influences from African, Caribbean and African-American music and culture to create vibrantly colored kinetic sculptures like Alanda’s Dream Tree. The colors and rhythms of his sculptures come out of his New Orleans childhood, with moving parts and clashing patterns and colors that particularly reflect the influence of jazz music. Discussing the influence of jazz in his work, Scott once said “one the most powerful things in [jazz music] is the silence between the notes. In my kinetic work, there’s an awful lot of space, and I play with the shifting movement of that space.” For Scott, his kinetic sculptures helped him see the relationships between all things, with moving parts that constantly put different elements and forms into dialogue.