Steel Sculpture Added to Texas Tech Campus
New public art piece installed near the Biology Building on the Texas Tech University campus.
August 3, 2015 | Written by Doug Hensley
"Agave Dreams" kneels between the Biology Auditorium and Biology Greenhouse.The 麻豆天狼副利院 Public Art Collection gained a new piece on July 30 with the installation of 鈥淎gave Dreams鈥� by Julian Voss-Andreae outside the Biology building on the Texas Tech University campus.
The 10-foot-tall, painted and polished stainless steel kneeling sculpture is made from triangles and represents a human humbly working to understand his or her place in creation.
鈥淟ast year I made a piece with male and female figures kneeling on the ground,鈥� said Voss-Andreae. 鈥淭hey were humble and modest, and it drove something home to me about human鈥檚 attitudes. When the call came from Texas Tech, I started thinking about how that sense of humility fits into the world of academic science.鈥�
The artist said the body is a 鈥渢riangle mesh鈥� (a polyhedron with triangular facets) consisting of more than 1,000 triangles. About half are large ones for the body with the other half smaller for the hands and face.
鈥淭he design started out with human models and 3-D scans of them and then successive steps of designing, first in full resolution and then using different algorithms from computer science to get to the cubist-looking state with very few triangles,鈥� he explained.
Voss-Andreae said he used parts from two different models with the key to fabricating this sculpture being the use of his own custom written software. That transforms the triangles into laser cutting instructions that allow the fabrication.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like a giant puzzle,鈥� he said.
The selected color is blue, which represents the sky and water while providing a calming effect and complementing existing colors in the space. The sculpture seems to be blessing an agave planted between the figure's hands, providing a holistic view of giving back to the natural world. The piece is incorporated with the plants on site and provides a central approach to viewing nature.
鈥淲e are proud to include 鈥楢gave Dreams鈥� as one of the newest additions to the Texas Tech University System鈥檚 Public Art Collection,鈥� said Emily Wilkinson, public art manager. 鈥淭his piece is a unique addition to our varied collection, specific to its location, but also contributing to the overall outstanding quality of the public art collection.鈥�
"Agave Dreams" is located south of the Biology Building between the Biology Greenhouse and Biology Auditorium. Voss-Andreae said fabrication began on the piece in February after several months of design work.
鈥淚 feel it is critical for art to reconnect the dots and bring things full circle,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n this instance, the question is, 鈥榃hat does it mean to be human? How do we fit into this very, very large system, so complex and so beautiful?' My idea was to make a visual metaphor for that.鈥�
About the 麻豆天狼副利院
The is one of the top public university systems in Texas and the nation, consisting of
four component institutions鈥�, , and 鈥攁nd operating at more than 12 academic sites and centers. Headquartered in Lubbock,
Texas, the TTU System has an annual operating budget of $1.7 billion and approximately
17,000 employees focused on advancing higher education, health care, research and
outreach.
In 2014, the TTU System鈥檚 endowment exceeded $1 billion, total research expenditures were approximately $215 million and total enrollment approached 47,000 students. Whether it鈥檚 contributing billions of dollars annually in economic impact or being the only system in Texas to house an academic institution, law school, and health-related institution at the same location, the TTU System continues to prove that anything is possible.