Client: Sufism Reoriented
Location: Walnut Creek, CA, United States
Completion date: 2016
Project Team
Artist
Patrick Beldio
Reunion Studios
Client
Sufism Reoriented
Sufism Reoriented
Architect
Alan Ritchie
Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects
Other
Colbar Art Inc.
Colbar Art Inc.
Architect
Clem Soga
soga + associates architects inc
Other
Thornton Thomasetti Structural Engineers
Thornton Thomasetti Structural Engineers
Other
Earthquake Protection Systems, Inc
Earthquake Protection Systems, Inc
Other
Direct Dimensions, Inc.
Direct Dimensions, Inc.
Other
Digital Atelier 3D Enlargement
Digital Atelier
Other
Gary Torgerson
Brush Plating Specialists
Art Consultant
Janet Nolan
J S Nolan + Associates Lighting Design, LLC
Other
Cold Spring Granite Company
Cold Spring Granite Company
Industry Resource
Mussi Artworks Foundry
Overview
The New Being is a monumental, 11-ton figurative sculpture installed inside a new sanctuary for Sufism Reoriented designed by architect Alan Ritchie of the Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie firm of NYC. The sculpture was designed to harmonize with the spiral staircase in order to inspire people as they entered and exited the building, reminding them of their deepest aspirations. It is brush-plated bronze, cast clear acrylic, granite, fiber optic lighting with steel infrastructure and triple friction pendulum base isolators, with dimensions of 39'-5″ x 16'-5″ x 14'-9.” It took over 9 years to complete.
Goals
The client wanted to give physical form to the purpose of Creation as revealed by Meher Baba. He foretold a “New Humanity” when more elevated human qualities would emerge, bringing a more benevolent age. The client wanted the sculpture to convey these qualities. She asked that the figure be lithe and androgynous, graceful and joyful and, having been freed from the bonds of its lower nature, emit a lightness of being. We decided to choose materials that would represent different stages in the evolution of consciousness—from dark to light, from stone to human, from binding to freedom. The black granite ring surrounding the base represents the mineral kingdom. The round bronze disc is covered in a brackish patina and sculpted with different forms of evolution. The bronze garment that is falling away was brush-plated to achieve nacreous colors and was sculpted to feel like a burden. The broken rope represents leaving behind the bindings of lust, anger, greed, hatred, pride, jealousy, and selfishness. The exterior surface of the figure is finished with coarse texture and then gradually becomes finer to portray the purification of consciousness. The butterflies represent transformation and the figure’s expanded capacity for service to Creation.
Process
The collaboration between the artist and client was crucial to the success of this project as her faith and clear guidance unleashed hidden potentials in the artist. Over 100 people from six states and the District of Columbia helped to create The New Being. Once the design phase was finished, the enlargement, casting, fabrication, and installation phases proceeded with great effort and mandatory collaboration. As much as we built a sculpture, so we built a team. The pressures of this project were impossible: to stay within budget, to safely assemble the parts so that the final product was protected from earthquakes, to deliver into an already finished space, and lastly, to keep everyone performing at a very high level of sculptural excellence because we were asked to make it last 700 years, the same goal for the building. The oppositions forced us to grow beyond our abilities as the sculpture grew. The New Being is the tallest indoor figurative, original sculpture in the Western hemisphere. It is also the largest sculpture to be plated with precious metals both inside and out of its hollow and open form, a recurring feature of Beldio's work.
Additional Information
For more information, images, and a video, see https://www.reunionstudios.com/work#/thenewbeing/