Client: Texas Tech University System

Overview

The 10-foot stainless steel kneeling sculpture is made from triangles and represents a human humbly working to understand his or her place in creation. The body is a “triangle mesh” (a polyhedron with triangular facets) consisting of more than 1,000 triangles. 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 is seen to be blessing one of the plants, providing a holistic view of giving back to the natural world. The piece, incorporated with plants on site, provides a central approach to viewing nature.

Goals

Submitting artists were asking to address relevant concepts such as evolution, life science, and the “study of life." They were also asked to create a design that would speak to some universal concepts about biology without being reductive.

Process

The artist worked with Texas Tech faculty and staff on this design. He also visited the site to ensure the sculpture was seamlessly integrated into the environment.

Additional Information

This piece was commissioned as part of the Texas Tech University System's Public Art Program, which was initiated by the Board of Regents in 1998 to enrich the campus environment and extend the educational mission at each component university.Through the program, public artworks are funded using one percent of the estimated total cost of each major capital project. Since then, more than 100 items created by some of today’s leading artists have been added to the TTU System’s campuses.