But, what IS it?

Magnet #1103 - Henry Moore's Large Art

I love public art. There's something funny about seeing people in public spaces around town - any town - walking around sculptures or other works of art, and trying to figure out what they're looking at.

More than in an art gallery, people tend to walk around the piece, inspecting it from top to bottom, presumably because it's out of its element, just sitting in whatever public space it's been allotted. It demands attention.

But what is it? Why is it there? Who approved it? Why did they approve this art? I mean, let's face it, when it comes to the public at large, governments, corporations and schools tend to err on the side of conservatism - art that doesn't necessarily challenge anyone to think beyond what they're looking at. In the end, it's the audience that makes that final determination between conservative and controversial. Eye of the beholder, indeed.

Whatever the piece is, or how people feel about it, it sparks conversation, and that's the part I love. Take this Large Arch in Columbus, OH, created by English sculptor Henry Moore. I.M. Pei designed the library it sits in front of - in fact, Pei suggested Moore for the library plaza space.

Moore intended for it to be something that people could walk in and around - he was influenced by nature and Stonehenge. That name Large Arch is no joke, either - it's 20 feet tall and 12 feet wide. He designed it in England, but it was actually built and pieced together in Germany and shipped over as one huge piece that weighs as much as an elephant.

Moore called it an arch. A large one. But what is it? What did he mean? Is it a gateway to the future? It stands between a library and a church, is it the gateway between knowledge and faith? Or is it just a giant opening for people to walk through?

One thing's for sure, in person, it's huge. One might even call it...large. Of course, I saw it only from the slow-moving car, a victim of our family's customary drive-by tourism habits.

Speaking of, in my own customary miss-something-by-thismuch, I missed the first Salisbury Sculpture Show, where they had 13 pieces from 14 artists installed in various places around town. I mean, I missed it by like weeks, man! From what I gather, there were some interesting pieces dotting our landscape.

I'll be around to see the second Salisbury Sculpture Show happening later this month.

When that happens, ya'll can drive by and watch me, walking around each piece...trying to figure out what the heck it is.

Reach for the sky

Magnet #965 - Bartholomew County Veterans Memorial

Another from my Columbus, Indiana set of magnets...this time, it's the Batholomew County Veterans Memorial, designed by Thompson and Rose. We missed seeing this memorial, but it's pretty cool, huh?

I picked it, because it's the most designy thing I had in my magnet photobucket cache...plus, it kinda reminds me of my visit to the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum yesterday.

It's free to visit all week for National Design Week, and the main exhibition (the most sustainable in the museum's history) is the National Triennial Design, "Why Design Now?" It centers around design that addresses social and environmental challenges - some really fantastic stuff in there - from sustainable buildings and cities* in Norway and Abu Dhabi to $19 glasses that the wearer can select the prescription. Definitely check it out if you get a chance.

I think my only complaint (other than trying to figure out how we can get this stuff into a museum, but not mass-produced yet), is that they had a really cute shop. But one without magnets.

Dudes, cool magnets exist!

*Check out the video for Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, which looks superfantastical right now, but it's pretty cool that it's already started phase 1. Maybe I'll wait till it's done before visiting. I bet money they'll have fabulous magnets.

What?

Quilty glass

Magnet #766 - Chihuly's Sun Panels

Another one from my Columbus, Indiana, collection. Again, if you haven't gone to Columbus, and you know, you're in the area roadtripping, it's worth a drop-by.

I'm very sad to report that I missed seeing this piece at the Columbus Learning Center. Though it looks like a pretty qulit, it's actually a specially commissioned piece by Chihuly, called Sun Panel Garden, a painted collection of 32, 3' x 3-ish panels suspended from the ceiling. It's backlit by the sun and artificially spotlit at night, and they basically show all of Chihuly's blown-glass forms - his reeds, his baskets, ikebana (flower arrangements), floats, etc.

I love all the shots of everyone visiting craning their necks to look up to admire it. There's a part of me that wouldn't dare step under it, though. There's this whole complex steel grid and tubular steel that holds up the panels - the whole piece is something like 19 feet!

But it is so very pretty, I bet it'd made for a great swaggy blanket or quilt.

Hmmm, I wonder if I didn't miss that in their supercute gift shop at the visitors center!

Dawn's early light

Magnet #659 - Dessa Kirk's Eos

Back over the summer, I mentioned how our family stumbled into Columbus, Indiana, home to some of the best art and architecture around.

I picked this magnet in honor of how I spent my last day in Seattle checking out the art (SAM's Michelangelo exhibit and the Olympic Sculpture Park) and architecture (Gehry's EMP) of Seattle. This was, of course, in between the BlackBerry breaks at stoplights and on I-5. Actually, the only time I didn't have my BB in hand yesterday was when the folks at Boeing had me check my BB in their lockers. My fingers missed the buzzing!

Honestly, it was weird. I had this unanswered urge to Twitpic and Tweet, and check for new emails.

Anyway - Columbus. I can't remember if we actually saw this Dessa Kirk piece or not - she's the Greek Eos, the Dawn goddess who rises from the edge the Ocean, chasing Night away, and opening heaven's gates every day to let her brother, Helios, the sun, ride his chariot across the sky. I love this idea that she's dawn rising out of the water.

The other reason I'm picking her for today is because I think I've met her every damn day this week. Hate dawn. Worst time of day. And I've got people trying to schedule 8:30 meetings tomorrow.

Hey. It's Sunday.

Work with me, people!

Columbus. Unexpected. Unforgettable.

Magnet #572 - Cummins Headquarters, Columbus, IN

Oh, yeah. Now we gots a theme going on up in here.

How's this for random? My sister forwarded me the Columbus, IN, visitors site last year, after having learned that the town was deemed a "Jewel of the Region" by National Geographic. Why? Because it's considered essential to American architecture, a veritable hotbed of cool buildings and art. Really!

And, when I saw the site, I dimly thought, huh. Lovely place. But, honestly, when's the next time I'll be in the heartland of America?

Fast forward about eight months - as our Chicago roadtrip turned into a desperate search for a Chinese restaurant for my dad's discerning palette which then devolved into a desperate search for just any place to sit down and eat, we found ourselves in a rather dilapidated Denny's.

Don't get me wrong. I love Denny's. But sometimes, when you're looking for Chinese, a semi-congealed Grand Slam breakfast sandwich at 2 in the afternoon isn't always what you're lookin' for. But, I digress.

So we're sitting there in Denny's wondering why we passed a wayfinder sign saying, "Architectural Tour." And suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, DC Sister and I realized we were in the hotbed of architecture! A little magic on the Blackberry landed us in the pretty busy visitors center.

The town proper is terrific. But what I loved was that wherever you turned on the city grid, you saw folks walking around...with the same map in hand. The maps that told us where the Saarinens were, along with the Pei, the Meier, and even the Dale Chihuly. Eeeee! It was like a scavenger hunt!

This magnet (purchased at the sweet little shop shop with the nicest ladies ever) is of Pritzker Prize-winning Kevin Roche's Cummins Corporate Headquarters. This place was one of my absolute favorites in town. So neat, I took the same picture, without realizing I had the matching magnet, from this more-to-come-of-course magnet set.

Don't know Cummins? They're one of the largest manufacturers of diesel engines - with the funnest corporate history I've seen in a while. Ya'll have to check out the videos in that link. I'm half in love with their founder now.

This guy, Cleesie Cummins, used to take cross-country trips like no one's business, back in the 1930s. He was one of the first folks to put diesel engines in buses. To prove it would work, he drove one cross-country, with two reporters in tow - all told, using 365 gallons for the price of $21.90. He was also one of the first to put a diesel engine in a cool passenger car - an auburn convertible. He then drove that to LA - 3,774 miles for the grand total of $7.63. Annnnd, don't get me started on his many race cars on the racing circuit.

Hee, what a fun (for me) post! C'mon. Where else are you gonna get architecture, Denny's, roadtrips, industrial magnates setting world records - all in one fell magnetpost?