Photos by Clements/Howcroft, Boston
Genius
2002
Artists: Ralph Helmick and Stuart Schechter
28'h x 15'w x 15'd
cast bronze
Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences
Brooklyn, NY
In the main entrance of the new Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences floats a sculptural meditation on the nature of profound discovery. The central image is a Great Horned Owl in flight, created by hundreds of precisely fixed and suspended cast bronze elements. The owl, emblematic of wisdom, is formed by a dense array of symbols culled from language and science. Like a comet, the form becomes more porous as it moves toward the tail, eventually dissolving into a particulate array, a sort of 'contrail of rationality'.
Numerals, letters, and symbols in the owl incorporate text, equations, and other kinds of embedded meaning; e.g,. a row of numbers depicts the Fibonacci series. Elsewhere, the sculpture includes letters spelling out dozens of names--geniuses in their fields--drawn from a variety of cultures and historical epochs.
The subject matter is simultaneously: pastoral--depicting an elegant moment of avian activity; scientific--relating to the activities within the building; and philosophical--a meditation on the nature of esthetic and technological pursuits. Science infuses the sculpture, evoking interpretations relating to phase change (physics), the nature of perception (biology/physiology), and human experience (phenomenology).
Commissioned by the NYC Board of Education, the NYC School Construction Authority, and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.
Project Team: Chris Taylor, Sarah Rodrigo
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