Deterministic Chaos, 2017
John T. Tate Hall, University of Minnesota
Deterministic Chaos is a three part public art work commissioned by the School of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Minnesota.The work brings the invisible energies and rhythms of the light and wind into the awareness of those who enter the building.
Outside an arc of stainless steelscreens on benches refers to the path of the sun throughout the day. The screens hold binary code puzzles expressed with polished stainless steel squares. These represent the “1” or the “0” of coded language and are enigmas for the viewer to try to unravel. Suspended in a mesh grid, these squares move in the breeze, catching the sunlight and the surrounding reflections.
In the two entry vestibules, subtly revealed scientific codes are embedded in the dichroic panels as they catch the light and reflect and project the patterns on the floors and walls.
Finally echoing the arc of screens outside, an arc on the interior wall has four screens of dichroic glass squares that move in response to the air of the building’s ventilation system. The lights project a dancing rainbow of color and movement across the white walls and floor, so that bouncing light animates the whole room.
The artwork elements provide an ordered matrix for revealing the changing and unpredictable forces in our surroundings. There are mysteries and ambiguities in art and in the unpredictable events of light and wind that are in a dynamic tension with the clarity science searches to define. Deterministic Chaos expresses the dance between these two world views as each enriches the other.
