Elation: in Red |
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February 23, 2016, Volume 62, No. 24 |
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Elation: in Red (above) is a new sculpture located on the green roof at the Singh Center for Nanotechnology, one of the projects of Penn Connects—A Vision For the Future, the University’s 30-year master plan. |
Jason Burgess’ lively aluminum sculpture, Elation: in Red, was recently installed at the Singh Center for Nanotechnology’s rooftop garden. Elation: in Red is 76” high x 60” long x 60” wide.
Mr. Burgess is a Pennsylvania-based American artist who met the previous Dean of Penn Engineering, Eduardo Glandt, in 2014. Mr. Burgess cites the environment of the Singh Center as the main inspiration for his creative process. While creating Elation: in Red in 2015, he considered not just the building itself, but also the artwork inside and outside: “The monumental and stark work, We Lost by Tony Smith, located in the entry plaza outside the main doors, makes a stunning visual comparison to the building’s architecture and provides a grounded stronghold to the minimal yet whimsically structured exterior. I wanted this form, that I was set to design, to contrast the prominent hard straight line of the structures and space complemented in Smith’s work. It became my intention to offer a more organic and compassionate composition.” Mr. Burgess also writes that he was inspired by the curved shapes in Jaume Plensa’s Endless III, which is in the Singh Center’s first floor lobby (Almanac October 8, 2013), and Alexander Calder’s red sculptures.
Mr. Burgess revealed that he was inspired by many Penn sculptures while making Elation: in Red. Alexander Calder, whose sculpture Jerusalem Stabile is on campus, outside Meyerson Hall (Almanac October 6, 2015), can be recognized as an instrumental part of Mr. Burgess’ artistic identity. From a young age, Mr. Burgess has been captivated by Mr. Calder’s bold monumental works. Mr. Calder’s use of red was particularly intriguing to Mr. Burgess, as he instead interpreted the sculptures as being orange: “I always saw orange and would defend that it was the reality of the pigment to be labeled orange. Calder’s Red caused me to investigate and learn a new perspective in order to accept his deeper sense of color. A perspective that assumes that life and the Universe are not always as they seem. I hope the inclusion of these words ‘in Red’ will act as a means for the viewer to further investigate their own perceptions and misperceptions while they confront the universe, as a partner in it.”
Elation: in Red’s form is meant to evoke life and nurturing, which relates to the Singh Center’s function as an educational building: “This work is Elation. The Elation of knowing that the Unknown ahead only waits to be the discovered. The Elation of real hope, when we trust we have the power to reach for all we may need to live and succeed in the known—as well as the currently unknown—Universe.”
To see more of the University’s many sculptures, visit the Office of the Curator’s website: http://artcollection.upenn.edu/exhibitions/campus-sculpture-tour/
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