An Art Expedition
We have a wonderful new home for the Computer Science Department under construction right now. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I would like to have art in it.
In case you don’t already know, what is actually being built is a complex of three buildings, which is why you sometimes hear it referred to awkwardly as the “SCS Complex”. The three pieces are (1) a new planetary robotics research center, (2) a 50,000 sq.ft research center for “future technologies” research (as yet unnamed), and (3) the centerpiece Gates Center for Computer Science. The 150,000 sq.ft Gates Center will be the new home for both the research and education activities of the Computer Science Department. I’m just super-excited at the prospect of moving to the new building, which so far appears to have been superbly designed. I hope it lives up to my expectations!
Now, about art. There are plenty of campuses around the country that have incorporated art into some of their buildings and surrounding landscape. In the realm of academic computer science buildings, a notable example is the University of Washington’s Allen Center, which so many of us have visited. The visual impact of the many paintings and sculptures sprinkled throughout the building are obviously enjoyed by both visitors and inhabitants. I know that I have always been impressed by it.
While it isn’t hard to find art-infused academic buildings like the Allen Center, truly ambitious integrations of art are actually quite uncommon. It just doesn’t happen often that an academic building can have a collection of art that goes beyond decorative value, to the point of communicating something more fundamental or expanding human experience. One significant exception, perhaps, can be found on the campus of the University of California at San Diego, with the fantastic Stuart Collection. In my opinion, given our great College of Fine Arts and the many arts friends we have, we should not only decorate our Gates Center, but enrich, challenge, and extend our scholarly activities by fully embracing public art in much the same way that UCSD has done. In other words, there is no reason why we shouldn’t aspire to have our building be as architecturally and artistically world-class as the research and teaching that goes on in it.
So what does this mean for us? Well, in part this will need to be a journey for us as a department. As a 20-year resident of Wean Hall, I know that we haven’t put much thought into how our surroundings should soothe, entertain, or provoke our thoughts. A part of the journey, then, is to broaden our horizons and understand the possibilities. We can do this with seminars, faculty/student discussions, and by taking some field trips. Along these lines, about a week ago a group of us went on a little “art expedition” to New York City. The group included Guy Blelloch, Scott Fahlman, and Anupam Gupta. Also joining us, late, was Robbee Kosak, the university’s VP for Advancement.
We had a very busy day, starting off with a visit to the Manhatttan offices of the Bloomberg company. You might know Bloomberg as a technology company that supports financial analysis and trading. But interestingly, they have also invested a great deal of thought (and money) into put contemporary art in the workplace. We were given a great tour of the art and then had the opportunity for a lengthy discussion with Euk Kwon, Bloomberg’s Global Design Architect. Euk explained both the spiritual and practical purposes of the art, and stressed the “intentionality” with which the art was placed. It was challenging to hear about how the architecture of the building allowed the designers to control tightly how and when visitors are exposed to the art, and how the art reinforces specific elements of Bloomberg’s “branding”.
After the Bloomberg visit, we were treated to a nice lunch by one of our trustees, Jill Kraus (the donor of both the Krause Campo and Walking to the Sky). We had a lively discussion of the processes by which art should be chosen for public spaces. While some significant disagreements were expressed during the lunch, the discussions showed our seriousness about art and also gave a reasonable sampling of views in our department. After lunch, we were treated to a preview tour of the grand re-opening of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. The “new” New Museum is now housed in an architecturally acclaimed building. While I didn’t especially like its opening exhibit, entitled “Unmonumental”, it was a real treat to get in before the general public.
In the evening we had the real reason to be in New York, which was to see Golan Levin’s opening at the Bitforms Gallery. Golan, who is a faculty member in the School of Art and courtesy appointment in CSD, is recognized internationally as a leading artist working in interactive media. (He also gave a really great Computational Thinking Seminar recently.) His show at Bitforms focused on the experience of art that intelligently “sees” its viewer. The centerpiece of the show was the Opto-Isolator, which reacted (for example with embarrassment) as people in the gallery stared at it.
Another mesmerizing piece was “Manual Input“, which would capture “negative spaces” in shadows cast by the viewers, to create digital detritus.
(Note that this is an old picture, taken from Golan’s web site. The Bitforms installation was more sophisticated.)
Besides the purely technical interest in the use of some fairly sophisticated computer vision technology, Golan’s work has depth while still remaining accessible to non-artists. I think it would be wonderful if someday we could have some of Golan’s work in our building.
The Bitforms opening appeared to be a great success. Besides our party of four, CFA had a group also making the trip, including Dean Hilary Robinson and also the Head of the School of Art, John Carson. Robbee Kosak also attended, and at least two trustees, Jill Kraus (and her husband Peter) and Ed Frank also made the trip. At times the gallery was so full of people that it was hard to turn around!
By coincidence, about five blocks away was another opening, at the Lombard-Freid Projects Gallery, by an artist with strong CMU roots — Lobster Man (aka William Kofmehl III)! We made an appearance there to see his latest performance piece, which took the form of a three-part room, each part containing an actor involved in different forms of feverish, obsessive behavior, with Lobster Man visiting each in constantly changing headgear. I’ll try to upload a picture or two later.
All in all, we had a great day in New York. At different times throughout the day, we were tickled, intrigued, challenged, and inspired. I only hope that we can some day bring these kinds of experiences into our new building.
Peter Lee @ December 10, 2007