Client: The Ohio State University

Overview

Installation with Stainless Steel Tubes
144 tubes in a 12 x 12 grid
44 x 44 x 16 ft / 13.4 x 13.4 x 4.9 m (L x W x H)
Lane Avenue Gardens, Columbus, OH
Funded through the Ohio Percent for Art Program
Owned by the Ohio State University

Goals

The Lane Avenue Gardens is one of many gateways that welcomes students, visitors, and community members to the Ohio State University campus. The University’s Arts and Memorials Committee in consultation with the Chadwick Arboretum, felt the Lane Avenue Gardens would be the ideal spot to merge the worlds of art, nature, and science. The artwork brings a new-found attention to these important learning gardens. The installation is part of a series of my works that create a specific corporeal sense of place. Carefully positioned primary sculptural elements are used to investigate the interactions between the physical and the ephemeral. The material’s inherent properties interact with their environment. They dynamically respond to wind, gravity, and light. The wind gently moves the rods as they cast complex, slowly moving shadow patterns on the ground. Visitors are invited to explore the environment through the confines of the architectural installation’s radical abstraction.

Process

This project required close collaboration with a number of stakeholders and experts including: prototyping and production done by regional fabricators, visual and structural research from Paramedia LLC's studio technicians, and foundational design by Duket Architects Planners, all incorporating feedback from The Ohio State University's Arts and Memorials Committee and the staff of the Chadwick Arboretum.