Earlier
this month the new additions to Curtiss Hall were unveiled to the public. Curtiss
Hall is home to the Agricultural College, as well as the Anthropology
department, sneakily hidden away in the third floor. Having had an anthropology
class daily in Curtiss throughout my 3 years here, I’ve been able to see the
progress of this huge project. We are
lucky to have a newly renovated building with new classrooms, as well as the
Global Café with plenty of seating and food available for students. Along with
these new features, there are some additions to the art on campus collection.
In my
time as an intern with the museums, I’ve learned a lot about how much art Iowa
State really has to offer on campus. We have the largest public art collection
in the country, which I had no idea about until recently. Once you realize how
much art we really have, you start noticing it everywhere. One of the great
things about Iowa State’s public art is that every building has art that is
applicable to the subject that is important in that building.
Of the
two new art pieces in Curtiss Hall, I’m going to be looking at the terrazzo
floor by Julie Chang in first floor. Right in the center of the floor, this
piece lines up with the overlook connecting all the floors of the building
together, meaning you can see this piece from any floor you are on. I like how
the terrazzo flowers and geometric shapes fit together with the material for
the surrounding floor. In a lot of ways Iowa State’s Art on Campus is seen
without being too obvious, like the other new glass piece lining the upstairs
of the Global Café. The floor is something students will be walking over daily,
and hopefully as they walk over the piece they see a new aspect of Iowa
agriculture each time.
Looking over the new piece, I started looking from the floor above in order to get a complete view. The first thing I noticed
is that it’s definitely not an obvious connection to agriculture and its many
parts, but as you look at the individual pieces you start to fit everything
together. The blue circling arrow was a prominent shape in the piece, it made
me start thinking about the Lion King and the whole Circle of Life song. The
blue arrow is connecting all of the other pieces of this giant floor puzzle
together, and wherever the arrow touches another shape, there is this great
layering of colors that make the piece so intricate. There is a mixture of
geometric and natural shapes, and a mix of abstract and literal representations
of Iowa agriculture. I see images of windmills, which are such a common sight
on the Iowa skyline. The flowers and leaves show some of the blending of the
colors, while incorporating images of what looks to be soybeans, one of Iowa’s
main crops. Animal life is also represented in the floor, with metal inlays of
insects and deer tracks.
Many of
the shapes are simplified versions of images that are very familiar to
agriculture in Iowa. For those who are in the building actually studying
agriculture, all they really need is a simple reminder to bring about thoughts
of the plants and processes they’re studying. For the people just visiting, or
maybe the anthropology major like myself, it gives us a little more freedom
when looking at the floor. There’s a lot more room for imagination with a more
abstract image. I love how this work of art is practical, and is hidden away in
an everyday space. Combining every aspect of agriculture together in a simple
abstract, I’m glad I’ll be walking over it everyday for the rest of my time here.
By Sydney Marshall
