If you visited the Thinkery in the past couple weeks, you probably noticed something new over near the Paint Wall in Innovators’ Workshop…
What’s the story behind this sculpture? The construction of the piece was spearheaded by our Thinker Suzanne Wyss, who was particularly interested in creating site-specific art for the museum. Site-specific art is artwork created to exist in a certain place, and as such the artist takes the location into account while they’re planning and constructing the artwork. Deciding to create something specifically for the far corner of Innovators’ Workshop (which was previously fairly sparse), Suzanne wanted to focus on using recycled materials. While visiting print and fabric stores, Suzanne noticed the large number of cardboard tubes these businesses end up with, and when she asked if she could use it for an art project, they were delighted. “It’s so cool to take what some people might consider a waste product and turn it into art”, she remarked.
The sculpture was constructed on and off since January (some of the winter weather slowed it down a bit!). If you watch our Facebook and Instagram, you may have seen pictures of progress show up from time to time.
Even volunteers lent a hand into its production, helping clean, paint, and glue the various cardboard tubes. What a cool collaborative effort and a beautiful final piece!
In its first weekend of installation, one of our young visitors suggested the name “Sunset on the Mountain, Honey in the Hive”. Too cool – any other suggestions? What does it make you think of?
Thanks to Suzanne and the various Thinkers and volunteers who made this sculpture happen!
More art from Suzanne Wyss can be found on her online portfolio, http://www.suzannewyss.com/
