UL Is happy to present "Fundamental Entities" into the main foyer. The piece was created by Colleen Gross. Her artist statement is below.
This is another in the art installation series sponsored by TSW Utilities and housed in University Library.
Fundamental Entities
Fundamental Entities is an installation composed of hemp ropes and copper tubing that
represent the concepts of string theory. At the top and bottom of these ropes the copper is bent
into spirals, representing a conductive element that produces power. This piece will be 16 feet
tall, and 8 feet wide, with 64 ropes connecting the tubing. Each of the ropes will be dyed with an
acrylic paint wash to represent a gradient of skin colors that are interconnected within a
community.
String theory explains how everything in time and space is related. Each atom that makes
up any physical structure is made of vibrating strings of energy. Essentially, this means all of the
objects in our universe are composed and connected by little strings. This piece promotes
anti-discrimination by challenging social constructs such as race, with the simplified fact that we
are all made of the same things.
The natural material of the rope lends to the idea of natural connection. If one rope were
to carry all of the weight of the sculpture, the form would be broken. Given the tension we see on
a daily basis created by news outlets and current events, communities would be stronger together
when facing controversy. Fundamental Entities is representative of the strength of community, a
visual celebration of the ways in which we are fundamentally connected.
Investigating the basics of science can aid in the process of ending negative social cycles
and introducing new, more inclusive ways of being. By transferring these concepts into art, this
sculpture visually suggests we can forget learned and inherited ways of survival based on
biological phenotypes, and find connection, strength, and longevity.